#but people can blacklist it even though i maintain this has very little to do with harry potter

[n7punk]

What is my immortal?

Ohhhh boy. Ok. Sit down.

My Immortal (wikipedia page) is the most famous fanfiction of all time. Couple disclaimers: it's almost not well-written enough to qualify for trigger warnings, but it does touch on a lot of triggers that I won't list off here. It is also, theoretically, tangentially, supposedly, "harry potter" fanfiction. However, harry is now known as Vampire, hermione is now B'loody Mary Smith, ron is Diablo, etc. A lot of the characters are now vampires and everyone is "goth" except the characters the author doesn't like, who are preps and posers. Also in one of the author's notes I think the writer ("Tara") literally says she hasn't read the books and it's based off "the movie". So like, it's connections to harry potter are tenuous at best and I'm not recommending you read anything beyond the first paragraph anyway, just putting that out there.

It's first person, follows a self-insert OC, and is entirely a fabrication of the writer's indulgence. It's one of those things that has gone down in fandom history and most people have read the first chapter, but we hadn't read more (AN: I don't recommend you do) so we had a read in the group chat and I either lost braincells or gained code-cracking skills trying to parse through the misspellings (both accidental and purposeful). A lot of people think it's a troll fic (which like, yeah makes sense) but there's a case to be made for it being a young tween's idea of a cool and edgy story that she and her friend made up and don't understand why everyone is hating on. I also think the world is a more beautiful place if it's sincere. The writer has managed to remain anonymous and undoxxed, which I am VERY grateful for, for her sake, even if I do desperately want to know the "real" story behind it and how she feels about its meme-status. Many people have come forward claiming to be the author and having done it as satire, but every one of them was a lying poser and a prep.

Below the cut is the opening of the famous "first chapter" (which only has a few more sentences in it after this anyway) for your reading pleasure. You really don't need to read any more than that, this is the part that became a meme and it only goes downhill from here. Also, "AN" (or "A/N") is "Author's Note" and yeah people really did used to just stick them in the middle of a fic, at least bad ones.

Hi my name is Ebony Dark’ness Dementia Raven Way and I have long ebony black hair (that’s how I got my name) with purple streaks and red tips that reaches my mid-back and icy blue eyes like limpid tears and a lot of people tell me I look like Amy Lee (AN: if u don’t know who she is get da hell out of here!). I’m not related to Gerard Way but I wish I was because he’s a major fucking hottie. I’m a vampire but my teeth are straight and white. I have pale white skin. I’m also a witch, and I go to a magic school called Hogwarts in England where I’m in the seventh year (I’m seventeen). I’m a goth (in case you couldn’t tell) and I wear mostly black. I love Hot Topic and I buy all my clothes from there. For example today I was wearing a black corset with matching lace around it and a black leather miniskirt, pink fishnets and black combat boots. I was wearing black lipstick, white foundation, black eyeliner and red eye shadow. I was walking outside Hogwarts. It was snowing and raining so there was no sun, which I was very happy about. A lot of preps stared at me. I put up my middle finger at them.

[gleefullypolin]

Same, same. Preparedness lets me relax into the story further than I would be able to otherwise. Our poor husbands, trying their best. I do remember he saw a spoiler of something he knew would bother me (character death) in a show we were both invested in and he came to find me immediately to try and gently let me know even though I had already seen it. He knows me so well by now. 😄

The marketing part of my brain I use for work gets and respects the month long break. It's smarter than dumping it all at once but we're used to instant gratification with a lot of streaming shows now. Bad business model in a lot of ways and weekly is probably best for long term engagement but I suppose we'll have to grin and bear the month long break while internally acting like feral gremlins to maintain some sort of sanity.

I have a hard time trusting show writers as well. The last handful of years has been a test in terrible writing far more than good writing. Writing fic though, yes. I do love a good cliffhanger and making everyone go through it because I know I will solve it all and make everyone happy in the end (or most people happy, the oddest comments I've always managed to get are from the people who decided how my fic should go before I'm done with it and get mad when my version doesn't match their vision). Conflict avoidance and storytelling do not go well hand in hand, that's for sure.

I about died trying to explain a pager. Felt my bones age and my life slipping away, ha.

Yeah, I think 2-4 is going to be a ton of growth for him but also watching Penelope with another man is going to throw him for a loop. It's probably going to eat him up tbh. I would imagine it happens before the biggest turns of ep 4 so by then he'd have to know just how deep he's gotten himself. If he's realized this and, this is pure speculation since we know so little about this ep as a whole, sees her upset with Obi Wan and she runs off at any time, there's no doubt in my mind he'd give chase immediately.

And he's not dumb, I don't know if he's going to put the LW thing together but if he does or he finds out by any other means, I think him being that deep in his feelings is probably very important, the way he was so so so angry in the books but also so worried about her. If the Queen is trying to go for her head, the man is not going to handle it well I'd assume. He didn't let up on the Jack stuff when it came to her as just friends so I think this would be much, much higher stakes.

My poor attention span. It's going to be burnt out after this I can tell. I don't dislike Benedict so I'll watch that one. Or if it's Fran and I get invested into her story, I'll happily watch that one. Eloise is going to have do a bit of work to get me there for hers I admit but if they pull it off, I'm more than happy to give them my view. But this level of investment? No. There's no way.

I say take what you can get where you can get it! All positive mental health effects are good ones no matter where they take place, ha.

100% agree! You and I are on the same page! I’m always saying to him “I saw something, but I don’t want to tell you, unless you want to know, ok I know you don’t want to know, I won’t tell you, should I tell you, Ok I won’t” and then he’s like OMG just tell me. I did manage to keep the entire plot of Blacklist from him for 4 years until we stopped watching it and I finally just told him how it ended after reading the whole plot of the final 2 seasons LMAO! He wouldn’t know what to do without me.

Yeah, streaming has ruined us. Everything is at our fingertips that we have forgotten what it was like to wait until 7pm on Thursday to see what happened after Ross kissed Rachel. No one has to tune in anymore. We just sit down and get fed the whole thing. I will both hate and love that month of build up between the 2 parts. I have OCD so I keep a spreadsheet of all the shows I watch and how many episodes I have seen, how many are left to air and what day they will next air on. It helps me not to lose track of what all I’m waiting to come back. I will be counting down the days the moment I have to put June 13th on that line.

I must agree we do not always get good writing. And even then, you never know when a show is just going to go off the air in the middle of a storyline. So even good writing can simply just cease to exist. Cliffhangers can be a deadly thing in television these days. I fell in love with Scorpion and then they ended on a cliffhanger where they all hated each other at episodes end and then it got cancelled and now they will forever hate each other and I’m like….well that’s trash. At least with this show it will end the storyline where I need it to for this couple so that’s why I like this format.

I feel like he has to figure out the LW piece. But if she’s just running from the ball and he follows her, I can’t see how he figures it out. I need to be smarter to figure this out! But something has to tip him off besides her running off. We know he will follow her because girl, he doesn’t let her out of his sight before he’s 2 steps behind her and hallway up her skirt. The boy has concern down to a science for that girl. But if he thinks that Lord Kenobi did anything to her, I can imagine him finding her quickly. Though if it's the Queen’s bounty and he catches a look on her face, perhaps he puts two and two together and figures it out. I always thought at some point he would catch on to her words. He is the only one that pays attention to everything she says.

I am curious how this B storyline about needing an heir for the Featherington family is going to play out also. I saw that mama Portia is once again in trouble with paperwork and needing a male heir and with Jack gone now and Colin having played a hand in all of that if that comes into play in part 2. That will be a hole for me to dive into after Part 1 plays out. I am curious if after the carriage scene happens if we get the proposal and if she tells him NO! Because I know that they have both said that they do not get together easily, and it is a roller coaster of a ride to their romance, so I feel like episode 4 is too quickly for them to say Yes and then wed. So, I feel like this may take us up and down a few hills after this damn carriage ride. Oh, my word I’m going down that rabbit hole of my guessing games again! Mental Health be damned.

[icouldntresistit]

I often see people commenting on how if km ever came out, their careers would be over. I am not talking about the ones who say it would affect their careers since that is basically a given, but the ones who claim it would end them.

I am not sure if that would be the case.

For starters, bts have a HUGE fanbase. Amongst it, their fans from lgbtq+ friendly countries aren't by any means small in number.

In the west, there are openly queer artists who succeed without having even a quarter of the fanbase bts has. They still face hardships and discrimination but they are able to do what they love and have many people listening to their music.

Even if they lost a significant amount of fans (homophobic fans by the way), the remaining ones would still be enough for them to profit greatly of their music, reach people with their message, and perform for big audiences. They would be left with a reduced but still not small fanbase made of people more loyal to them and, most importantly, accepting and supportive of them.

Of course, they would most likely have to change their target demographic to focus more on progressive countries (something they probably don't want to do) and would face backlash in South Korea and other conservative parts of the world. As far as I know, they are very patriotic so this would be horrible for them.

However, that doesn't mean their careers would be over, like many tend to say. Even if their popularity plummeted in SK, they would still have enough fans to continue pursuing their passion succesfully.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think they lack reasons to not want to come out. Like I said, they really appreciate their country's support so receiving hate from them and their media is definitely something they don't want to go through. There is also the issue with the military service, the consequences it could have for their families, them being korea's representatives, etc. This is all very unfair and part of why I don't expect them to come out.

Having said this, to me, it is a little difficult to imagine that it would be career ending considering their huge fanbase in the west.

Is this just my impression? Would they really be unable to continue living off of music and performance with moderate success, thus ending their career, if they came out?

I’ve never thought much about this but honestly, I do think their careers would suffer if any member came out. Internationally, it might not move the needle as much, but domestically, they’d likely take a huge hit. A good portion of HYBE’s investors are Korean corporate conglomerates and Korean nationals. If Korean investors pull out, then HYBE is left with a fraction of their current resources, which would effectively halt production of any bts-related content and/or merchandise. Also consider that in business, it’s not only about having a customer to sell to, but also a method by which to deliver the product. Exhibitors and distributors could blacklist them--which would severely limit their ability to sell anything, let alone perform on shows/go on domestic tours, etc. Imagine Samsung without all the electronics stores, appliance stores, mobile phone companies, etc, to distribute their products through. They would have to rely on their own retail outlets which make up only a fraction of Samsung’s retailers. They would lose revenue on that alone. Likewise, imagine BTS’ situation if suddenly Naver, Melon, MNET, etc. pulled any bts-related content. BTS would have to find a way to make the same amount money on things like YouTube and Spotify US alone in order to maintain their current business model and individual lifestyles. They would definitely still make money, but it wouldn’t be as much. Now, I don’t imagine that all of their investors would suddenly pull out (money does talk after all), nor do I imagine that they’d be blacklisted from all domestic distributors, but they would most likely suffer a hit that would lower their current status in the industry.  But honestly, I think the worst part would be how their image would suffer.  At least for a period of time, they would be socially outcasted by a good part of the Korean public (definitely not all people though). And Jimin and JK specifically are strongly nationalistic (not unlike a lot of Korean men) and put the support of fellow Koreans above any international success. If someone like this loses the support of their home nation, I can imagine it’d be a worse toll than losing the money. You’ve now effectively become a pariah in the place you love most. I mean, look at what Koreans have done to Sam Okeyere for daring to even speak on discrimination in South Korea All of this, of course, is just conjecture. Because there’s no precedent to be able to tell us how the korean public would react, only attitudes and predispositions of trendsetters and decision-makers. Something like this has literally never happened before (an idol coming out as both LGBTQ+ and in a relationship with their member) so it would honestly just have to play out for us to truly know TL;DR: It would most likely cause damage in the interim but really, I don’t know and neither does anyone else lol

[hopelesshawks]

Physical Fatality Part 8- The Fallout

18+ Hawks x fem, pro hero!reader

Summary: You’re a rising star in All Might’s agency. Hawks is the darling of Endeavor’s. By virtue of your job descriptions, the two of you are supposed to hate each other, or at the very least be cautiously neutral. For a long time that’s exactly what the two of you did. You stayed out of each other’s way and formed little opinion of the other. One fateful night at an HPSC gala changes all that. Based on the album Hopeless Fountain Kingdom by Halsey.

If you don’t want to see Physical Fatality content blacklist #hopelesspf

This story will have multiple NSFW parts so it is 18+ ONLY minors dni

Masterlist

You walk into the lobby of your agency already tired and irritable. You haven’t slept well the past couple days since the break up. That first night you’d drank well into the night alone in your room. Then last night you’d elected to take the graveyard patrol shift to avoid having to face your empty bed once again. As a result, you have zero patience for the stares and whispers you’re getting as you make your way over to the elevators. It’s early and you already are grappling with the fact you’re about to see Hawks for the first time since he ripped your heart out. As you get into the elevator you have to resist the temptation to groan as a few of your coworkers also enter. It is blissfully quiet for awhile until one of them decides to try and pipe up before exiting onto his floor. “I always knew you were a traitor and a slut,” he sneers at you as he steps out of the elevator.

You will be having none of that. Fuck this guy.

You‘ve already been using your quirk a lot because of patrol so you should probably be giving it a rest but instead you use it to grab hold of the guy, drag him back into the elevator, and slam him up against the side. The couple people remaining quickly scurry out, not wanting to be caught in your anger, as you release your quirk and instead press him against the elevator with a hand on his throat. The elevator continues its ascent but you pay very little mind. “What the fuck did you just call me?” you ask him, your tone lethal. “I-I’m sorry,” the man stutters, eyes filled with fear, “it’s just we all saw the photos of you with Hawks.” Your blood runs cold but you refuse to let this coward see his words have any kind of effect on you. “What photos?” you demand. “The ones of you and Hawks in the alleyway. One of the tabloids ran a whole article on it and now a few others are trying to pick up the pictures and run their own story,” the man explains. The door pings indicating you’ve reached your floor and you’ve gotten the only useful information you’ll get out of the guy anyway. “The fear you’re feeling right now? Remember it the next time you think about talking shit,” you hiss at the guy before releasing him and storming out of the elevator.

You do think back over what he said though. The pictures from the alleyway? You pull out your phone and type your own name into Google. Who cares if you’re late to the meeting at this point, you need to know what the fuck is going on. Immediately the search results are flooded with the article the man was referencing. You pull it up and each successive word has you feeling nauseous. The pictures even more so. They’re from the day you and Hawks broke up, when he had pulled you into the alleyway. You knew it. You fucking knew that was too risky and that you two would get caught. Then the bastard had the nerve to shatter your heart into pieces later that same day. The more you think about it the angrier you become. You don��t make the conscious decision to storm into the meeting necessarily but before you know it your feet are taking you that direction. You shove the doors to the conference room open, causing everyone to turn to you bewildered. They must not have seen the headlines yet if they’re shocked by what they see. Now that you think about it, had you even stopped drowning your sorrows long enough to tell Bakugo and Midoriya about the break up? You’re about to say something, you’re not sure what, when your eyes finally land on Hawks and the bastard has the nerve to also look like he’s had a shitty couple days.

You see red.

You lunge forward at the man who’d shattered your heart and probably just ruined your career. You are desperate to do something, anything, to make him feel a fraction of what you’re feeling right now. Deku and Bakugo are quick to catch you and try to hold you back but you struggle admirably against their hold. When that doesn’t work you reach out with your quirk to pin Hawks, wings and all, against the opposite wall. Tokoyami moves to defend his friend but Shoto gives a slight shake of his head to warn him against interfering. Silver veins crawl up your arms and it hurts but you don’t care because it’s nothing compared to the pain in your heart. “You fucking bastard! I told you we’d get caught! You don’t get to leave me and fuck up my career,” you yell and you see something like shock and guilt flash behind Hawks’ eyes but that only enrages you further. Midoriya and Bakugo agree that that’s enough and so both of them use their quirks to force you to the ground, pinning you. “You need to calm down,” Midoriya tells you sternly. “Fuck off,” you spit back. “No. Calm. Down. This isn’t going to help you but if you explain what’s going on maybe we can sort this out,” he insists. You glare him down for awhile but as the red haze finally fades and your anger returns down to a simmer you finally relax and release Hawks from your quirk. “Good, now, Kacchan and I are going to let you up and you’re not going to lunge at Hawks. Right?” Midoriya asks. “Right,” you huff.

Bakugo and Midoriya release you and you stand up off the floor but uphold your end of the bargain and don’t lunge out at Hawks again. He’s giving you a sad look and it pisses you off but you don’t want to be physically restrained again and Midoriya is right that it solves nothing. “Have any of you read today’s gossip headlines?” you ask. You get a chorus of no’s back, those from Shoto and Tokoyami being confused, but the other three know where this is heading. “(Y/n) I-“ Hawks starts but he’s interrupted by a new voice. “I’m sorry am I interrupting something? A lover’s spat perhaps? You’ll have to get used to those Hawks,” Monoma snarks and you grit your teeth. “What the fuck do you want extra?” Bakugo asks. “All Might would like to see my ex-fiancé in his office,” Monoma replies. You’re immediately filled with dread but you refuse to give him the satisfaction of letting it show on your face. Instead you just glare at him as you turn to leave the room.

The walk to All Might’s office feels like a death march and it occurs to you that you wish you didn’t have to do it alone. Your treacherous heart tells you that you wish Keigo was with you but you shake the thought away as quickly as it comes. You enter into All Might’s office and try not to let your nerves show. “You wanted to see me sir?” you ask as you walk into the office. “Yes, sit down,” All Might says as he gestures to the chair in front of his desk. Even after all these years it’s still odd seeing All Might in his scrawny form. After all you had grown up on the image of the symbol of peace, standing tall and broad, towering above villains. Still, even though he looks positively skeletal, he’s intimidating as ever as you sit across from him. Maybe because he holds the future of your career in his hands. “I’m assuming you’ve seen the headlines,” All Might sighs and you nod. There isn’t much you can say to that. “I figured after you left Monoma, which I still don’t understand, that you would go back to sleeping around but I also assumed you would keep things a little more subtle than this. I mean Hawks? Really? I don’t ask for much, (y/n), but we talked about this,” All Might continues. “I know we did, but-“ you start but All Might cuts you off. “No buts, I warned you what would happen if we went through this again. The agency has a reputation to maintain.” “But this time is different!” “How is this any different than the last time you were caught sleeping around, other than how high profile this one is?” “We’re in love!” It hurts to say it. It hurts because Hawks doesn’t love you anymore but you’re desperate to save your career. “Really?” All Might asks with a raise of his brow. “Yes, really. You can ask Izuku and Katsuki, they’ll back me up. I’ve been seeing Hawks in secret. I know I should’ve told you but we were worried because of the feud. We got sloppy and the paparazzi caught us before we could make an official announcement or anything,” you lie and god how you wish it were true even as you say it. Maybe that’s why the lie is so convincing. All Might sighs heavily, you’re probably giving him a migraine, but he seems to believe you. “All right well if that’s the case we’ll have to set up an interview ASAP so you two can officially announce your relationship and dispel any rumors that you’re back to sleeping around. I know you don’t like them but I’ll be expecting the two of you to make appearances at some of the major HPSC events,” he tells you. “Of course, thank you sir,” you sigh out in relief. You have no idea how you’ll convince Hawks to play along but something tells you at worst you can guilt him into it. “That’s not all (y/n), I’m pulling you from the task force,” All Might adds. “You’re what!? But sir!” “No. I won’t budge on this. Monoma will be taking your place.” “But I haven’t done anything wrong!” “Look I can’t control whether Hawks stays on or not but I can control whether you do. It is a bad idea for you to be romantically involved with someone on the task force so you’re off the team effective immediately. You are to collect all of your notes and files on the matter and hand them over to Monoma. Do I make myself clear?” “Yes sir...” “Good.” You rise to leave the office, frustrated tears already threatening to fall as you make your way to the door. “For what it’s worth (y/n),” All Might says and you pause to listen, “I am happy for you.” You nod in acknowledgment of what he’s said but you don’t otherwise respond. You don’t think any words would come out if you tried and you’d hate to cry in front of you boss.

You leave All Might’s office and head to your desk, fishing out all of the files and notes you’d been taking, all of your hard work from over the past couple months. You then head back to the conference room. The atmosphere is tense and judging by the looks everyone is giving you they’ve all read the article by now. “Monoma can you give me a minute with the others?” you ask, although your eyes never leave the stack of papers in your arms. “I don’t know little Artemis, it’s rude to kick out guests you know,” he replies. “Neito please. You already won, can you just-“ you ask, trailing off as you finally make eye contact with him. He hesitates. He doesn’t revel in your pain, not really, and he never quite understood the magnitude of how important your reputation is to you and to your career. In all the time the two of you had been together you’d never explained, so, because, in spite of everything, part of him still loves you, he relents. “Fine. But I’m going to wait outside because I want to, not because you told me to,” Monoma huffs before going to do just that.

“What do you mean he already won?” Midoriya asks and you hate the pity on his face. “I’m being pulled off the case. Monoma will be taking over for me, effective immediately,” you answer. “What? That’s bullshit! All Might can’t just-“ Bakugo fumes but you cut him off. “He can and he did. I’m lucky I talked him out of worse,” you explain. A heavy silence falls over the room. “Speaking of which,” you sigh as you turn to face Hawks. He looks like a deer caught in headlights. It might have been funny under different circumstances. You steel yourself, he doesn’t get to see you weak anymore, and meet his eyes with cold determination. “Look, about what I said the other day,” Hawks starts and he’s tripping over and choking on his words as if he has any right to be nervous or upset right now. “Save it. I have watched you devour me like you mistook me for bread these past few months. Are you fed now?” you start. Hawks opens his mouth to answer but you shut him down immediately. “Don’t. It’s a rhetorical question. You give me the messiest head and I get you don’t give a shit about me but now my career is on the line so you’re going to listen up whether you want to or not,” you continue and Hawks’ face is turning red, shame and frustration and guilt coming off him in waves. Good. You want to give the impression that you got the message he wishes you were dead. You don’t believe it, not fully, but it will give you the edge you need to convince him to agree to your terms. He looks like he’s about to break into a sweat at any minute so you decide now is the time to give your proposal. “We aren’t done. I am undoing your little fucking break up from the other day. I won’t let us finish yet,” you say, your voice filled with a confidence you don’t have. “Is that a threat?” Shoto asks, but you shake your head before going back to addressing Hawks. “Don’t take this as a threat. All I’m saying is if you don’t love me anymore then lie. If you don’t you’ll end my career,” you finish.

It’s like the air’s been sucked out of the room as everyone waits for Hawks’ response. He never thought it would come to this. He’s never felt so selfish in his life now for how he ended things and the assumptions he made after talking to Endeavor. Perhaps he was naive, just not in the way Endeavor had implied. He was naive to think the press would just leave you alone about moving on when they have repeatedly demonstrated you are their favorite punching bag. He was naive to think Endeavor somehow knew you better than he did based off of nothing but your employer and former hero ranking. Maybe, though, this could be his second chance. Maybe he could use this opportunity to explain and show you he does still love you. “Did you hear me?” you ask and it snaps Hawks out of his thoughts. “I heard what you said. I won’t have to lie, I do still love you. We love each other and that’s not something we can change. I’ll explain everything later,” he swears but he can tell you don’t believe it. He forms his own game plan. Treat you right and you won’t complain, then maybe he can get you to listen to his side of the story and undo the damage he wrought. “Whatever Hawks, as long as we’re in agreement,” you sigh. “I’m serious, (y/n) we won’t have to lie,” Hawks insists and it makes you hesitate. Not for long, but just long enough for Hawks to see a glimmer of hope.

You toss the stack of papers you have onto the conference table and turn to leave. “Where are you going?” Midoriya asks. “I said effective immediately didn’t I? I’m going back out on patrol,” you respond. “Don’t be an idiot, you should give your quirk time to rest,” Bakugo protests but you roll your eyes before ultimately ignoring him and walking out the door. Hawks watches the whole exchange, noting that the silver veins on your forearms hadn’t even entirely disappeared yet even as you storm out. Every move of his will be vital now if he wants to win you back, including the ones he makes in front of Bakugo and Midoriya when you’re not around. He’s sure they’d love nothing more than to rip him apart right now. Monoma re-enters the room and that effectively kills any more conversation that could be had on the matter but Hawks knows what he has to do.

He has to win you back.

Author’s Note: We in the second half now bois and it is a whole nother animal. The inspiration really hit yesterday so I’m hoping I can keep up that energy and get quite a few updates in at a faster pace than the last few before 7 and the interlude were in. These last few have been more overtly connected to the associated song from the Halsey album I think so it may be fun to listen as you read and see what lines you can spot, idk

Taglist [open]: @akkaso @cathy8taffy @eeppff @iikillerkitteh @pixelwisp

[whocalledhimannux]

now that I’ve had some time to reflect on Return of the Thief, I have some more thoughts that are... slightly more critical, in both the thinking-deeply and not-entirely-praiseworthy ways. I’m not going to tag this post because I don’t want to harsh anyone’s buzz, but I’ll just say return of the thief spoilers and rott spoilers right now, and hopefully the blacklist will catch those, and if not the rest of the post is going under a cut

okay so like first off, I want to say that I still think this was a very well-written book and it’s very satisfying from a character standpoint. there are so many great interactions, indications of growth, etc, and the layered writing of the first person POV is, as always, stunning. my main character complaint is not enough Costis and Kamet (or Costis/Kamet)--but even that, upon reflection, I think is colored slightly by my anticipation for a blatant Comet moment. When you’re waiting for a big payoff, and the story isn’t designed to have that, it’ll feel like a bit of a letdown. But from a different perspective, the ending of TaT can be a perfectly satisfying narrative ending, establishing that Costis and Kamet’s storylines are now thoroughly and primarily wrapped up in each other; their contributions to the wider plot from thereon out are mostly incidental, because sailing off to be together is their bigger ending.

side note: a character development I actually loved was us seeing Eugenides teetering dangerously close to a breaking point and being pulled back. I think...... from what I have seen of the fandom in general--bearing in mind I was never a part of Sounis and have dipped in and out of the discord without being majorly involved--based on my general impression of the tumblr fandom, I think there is a tendency among QT fans to let the Thief characterization of Gen affect our reading of him in later books. I think there’s sort of an assumption that he’s everybody’s favorite and that his choices are, by default, correct and sympathetic, even as the series progresses and he makes more, increasingly difficult and sometimes pragmatic or even cruel decisions. and I think RotT really, really challenges that kind of view. Eugenides is under immense strain in this book, and several times he lashes out in ways that are indefensible. Sometimes, even if he’s not being cruel to others, he’s being risky to the point of masochism, and the revelations about his backstory also suggest that quirky innocent Gen of The Thief is also not all he seemed to be.

and I think that was resolved in a very enjoyable and narratively satisfying way. The threats to the Braels had a real edge to them. God!Eugenides was terrifying, in a noticeable step up from the ways regular!Eugenides is terrifying, and it felt like payoff for the increasing role of the gods in Eugenides’s storyline up until now. And I really appreciated the subtleties of Sejanus saying that he won’t tell Eugenides the conspirators because it will damage him in the longrun, and the way Eugenides ultimately decides to forgive and trust Pheris and Sejanus anyway--those scenes, imo, were great followups to the scenes in QoA, KoA, and ACoK that discussed how rulers can maintain their moral center in difficult situations.

but... the Medes. plot-wise, I’m struggling with the conclusion to this storyline.

I made a different post already about What the Fuck is going on with the secretary of the archives, because it totally feels like shit is missing there, and to some extent I’m okay with that? it felt to me like a stylistic choice--like, Pheris the historian is writing specifically about the Mede invasion, so maybe the full story of Baron Orutus, and Relius, wasn’t actually resolved til years later and he thought it was an overlapping but ultimately separate story. fine. I actually did kind of like the parts where that was done more blatantly, like his comment that two of the queen’s attendants became famous later on for unrelated reasons. it helped with the framing of the story.

but I don’t feel that way about the Medes plot. For one thing, we’ve spent a couple of books now harping on the fact that Ghusnavidas (sp? I’m tired and my book is too far away to check, y’all know who I mean) is dying and that the primary threat is going to come from Nahuseresh’s brother, Naheelid. Costis made a point of saying last book that if the Little Peninsula could hold out for a year against Naheelid, not only would they win but the entire empire might be in danger of collapsing.

So... they spent ~a few months fighting a single army at a single battle site, with the Big Threat Guy not even present, and that’s it? everybody goes home and the Medes aren’t a threat anymore? it’s not even clear to me how many troops the Medes lost--their principal losses were in the form of Bu-seneth, Nahuseresh, and Baron Erondites, who, yeah, were key officers, but if the Medes lost, saying, 30% of their troops or less, what’s to stop Naheelid from hiring more soldiers and better officers and coming back in a year? it totally makes sense to me that an army that saw Eugenides call down lightning is willing to pack it up early, but inevitably that’s going to be dismissed as rumor and distortion so idk how it’s supposed to be a lasting deterrent. it may not be super realistic, because the downfall of empires takes time, but I think a bunch of us were expecting that the Mede Empire would, at the very least, but conclusively beaten by the end of the book, and I don’t think we got that.

Also, speaking of Big Bads: Nahuseresh. Oof.

I know part of the point of TaT was that Nahuseresh’s situation was becoming kind of sad and pathetic but... I think he went downhill too quickly in this book. and tbh I think part of it is the fact that we’re getting this from Pheris’s POV, and Pheris for one doesn’t have a whole lot of close contact with Nahuseresh in this book, and for another didn’t have any contact with him prior to this. His little “I will be king of Attolia!” outburst honestly made me cringe a little bit, and while I’m not entirely opposed to the idea of Nahuseresh being killed by an anonymous soldier--it has a very “reality ensues, war isn’t a series of epic meaningful confrontations” feel to it--I do object to the fact that Eugenides spent a significant amount of time in KoA and ACoK nursing a grudge against Nahuseresh and then barely got to do anything with it. and a lot of what he did get to do, the reader barely sees.

I think there were ways to make Nahuseresh’s actions in this novel a bit more satisfying without fundamentally changing them. for example, bringing in more commentary from people who knew him before. if there was a passage where Eugenides looked at Nahuseresh and realized that his beard was raggedy, and he looked thinner, and there was a manic light in his eye and he just seemed pretty pathetic and honestly more comical than the villain Gen’s been building up in his head for years--I think that would go a long way towards establishing tone. it would feel more like the anticlimax is intentional and be more about Eugenides’s own character growth, whereas now it just feel like... Pheris doesn’t have a whole lot of personal stake in this conflict even though the reader has been waiting for it for so long.

(although I do find it interesting on a narrative level in contrast with Sejanus, who seems disproportionately important in this book imo--from my perspective, the threat of Nahuseresh has been a constant behind-the-scenes presence for the last four books and Sejanus stopped being important after KoA. and I get why the opposite would be true for Pheris, but I still... want more.)

anyway, I just feel like the villains in this book are a little--warped, somehow. like the huge enormous threat of the series up until this point actually isn’t all that bad and can be wrapped up in relatively little time. it’s a weird sensation for me wherein I’m glad where everyone ended up and I enjoyed the experience of getting to that end, but like... it just feels a little off. slightly anticlimactic. I mean, for a lot of us this series is All About the characters and from that perspective I’m mostly satisfied, but I feel like in previous books the plot has come together SO well that my expectations were really high, and this resolution didn’t really meet them.

and damn does it feel strange to be writing this. feels like I just cobbled together a few of my hottest and most controversial takes and like I need to throw in about twenty more disclaimers about how much I love the books overall, but I’ll resist.

[televinita]

Almost 1 full year late, finally watching Big Sky!

I am 4 episodes in (NOBODY TELL ME ANYTHING. my sole knowledge of future events is that season 2 starts in 3 days). All I knew about this show going in was: the poster had Ryan Phillippe*, Kylie Bunbury, and a blonde woman as the 3 leads; it’s set in Montana; I believe it involves a criminal investigation/law enforcement somehow.

These are my thoughts so far:

*You can understand my shock and confusion when the first episode ends with Ryan Phillipe’s character being SHOT TO DEATH AT POINT BLANK RAGE. Excuse you what the HELL. I am also embarrassed that at no point did I suspect the sheriff, having been lulled into thinking that despite his creepy intro, he must in fact just have a weird sense of humor. *facepalm* When people show you who they are, believe them, etc.

I was not aware this was based on a book series until it started, but cool, guess I finally have some understanding of why people at book sales are always asking the volunteers about C.J. Box.

I am still mad about Cody being dead because honestly, it took me like five minutes to be INTO him. I’ve never really had a feeling one way or the other about this actor, other than thinking that Reese Witherspoon made a good pick in first husband/child-fathering material, and I maintained that opinion even after their divorce. Have I even seen a picture of him in the last...decade? But damn, the rugged-Montana-dude look + curly hair absolutely worked for me. Even on a kinda sleazeball character. 

Speaking of which, I cannot BELIEVE Kylie Bunbury finally paid off the bad will her face earned as Under the Dome’s worst character ever, after six years of my inability to enjoy anything she was in as a result, only to turn around and IMMEDIATELY DO THE SAME THING THAT GOT HER BLACKLISTED IN THE FIRST PLACE?? Choices!

I didn’t know the blonde lady before (Katheryn Winnick), but it is AMAZING how much she looks and sounds like a blonde version of Rachelle LeFevre, and in this particular role she even ACTS like Julia Shumway on Under the Dome. Ergo, the character parallels of her not only being an investigative private citizen interested in upholding law and order, but also her love interest being a renegade bad-boy blond who cheats on her with Kylie Bunbury is SENDING ME TO THE MOON, Y’ALL.

However, since he’s apparently dead in this story, that cools the fires of my animosity considerably, and I have decided to stan both of these clearly-awesome women. Evil Sheriff is right about one thing, Bunbury is very pretty and it’s nice that I can finally enjoy that fact.

I also really like the mother-hen computer lady back at the office. (I watched these 4 episodes in one night, okay, that’s not enough time for me to learn anybody’s character name yet even though I know I should just force myself to learn.)

Although I do think that -- okay, I can do this -- JENNY is my favorite, just because the sheer thrill of feeling like I’ve got Julia back every time she appears on screen is immeasurable. (And when she put on the red wig as a fake hooker? Are you kidding me.)

On the downside, I have so little interest in the whiny captive girls at this point that I’m skipping most of the scenes where it’s just the three of them talking, and frankly, the little one is particular is causing so much trouble that I am beginning to actively yell about why their captors haven’t murdered them yet. YOU ALREADY SHOT TWO PEOPLE. What’s 3 more, compared to trouble these girls have already given you? Like, at the VERY least, why have you not blindfolded and gagged them in addition the cuffs. Don’t let them formulate any more escape plans or keep each other’s spirits up. This is basic stuff, guys. Are you SURE you’ve kidnapped women to traffic before?

(I was going to end my review here, but seriously, you’ve got ALL that land. With wild animals just waiting to scatter the bones. AND you apparently have an acid pit?? You’ve got OPTIONS. Why are you just sitting here in a cold sweat hoping they won’t escape again. If anyone finds your little homemade prison, you know they’re gonna charge you for murder whether they’ve got bodies or not; might as well at least eliminate the risk of them coming back to testify against your ass.

...I’ve been reading a lot of thrillers this season, okay, and also I spend a lot of time on r/UnresolvedMysteries. I think about these things.

Honestly, at this point, the only reason I’m invested in the girls’ survival is that I have to believe there’s gonna be one hell of a tearful reunion hug between the blonde one and her boyfriend and I am very much looking forward to that, because he seems like a sweetheart. If I do not get it, then MURDER FOR EVERYONE. (everyone who is fictional and annoying, that is)

FINAL THOUGHTS*: despite its minor drawbacks, the PI team and the setting are awesome, and I love so much that there’s a serialized/non-procedural crime drama I get to watch that conforms to broadcast standards of decency.  Very excited to continue!

*P.S. (I almost forgot, somehow): why in god’s name does this show need to stress so hard that it’s set in current times, specifically The Pandemic? It was brought up at least 3 times during in the pilot alone, and it has not calmed down.

[schraubd]

What Should We Think About "United Against Hate"?

A coalition of left-wing groups has announced a new initiative, "United Against Hate", seeking to counter antisemitism in American society. The Jewish organizations involved are IfNotNow, The Jewish Vote, Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, Never Again Action, and JVP. The non-Jewish groups associated with the endeavor include the Movement for Black Lives, Dream Defenders, Mijente,  United We Dream, the Arab American Institute, MPower Change, Emgage, and the People’s Collective for Justice and Liberation. What should make of this? At one level, it's hard to say because the website associated with the endeavor appears to be broken. Moreover, there is certainly something a bit brazen about launching a new counter-antisemitism initiative titled "United Against Hate" the same week as many of the same groups pushed "Drop the ADL". Be united, but not that united, I guess. In my view, though, an initiative like this could have four different priorities in a variety of different mixes,  and how they prioritize among them will ultimately dictate how beneficial or detrimental it is. Those priorities are:

Combating right-wing antisemitism, which is a violent threat to Jews and -- through conspiracy theories like QAnon and various "Soros" theories -- is increasingly becoming mainstream in American conservative politics.

Combating left-wing antisemitism, which debilitates progressive movements and marginalizes Jews in the political community most of us call home.

Shielding left-wing antisemitism, by providing a Jewish seal of approval to progressive actors accused of more mainstream actors of antisemitic activity.

Punching at mainstream Jewish groups, seeking to further decay their clout in American politics and redistribute their influence and power to more left-wing alternatives.

As you can imagine, I think the first two priorities are salutary and the latter two malicious. The group members have experience with all four. Some have consistently fought against right-wing antisemitism, some have made contributions in undermining left-wing antisemitism. JVP has a long history of declaring alleged left-wing antisemites "not guilty (with a Jewish accent)", and IfNotNow's raison d'etre is centered on seething hatred for mainstream Jewish outlets.

A coalition like this doesn't necessarily have to choose -- the question is how it will balance these potential missions. But -- speaking from a purely realist, cold-blooded political calculus -- one way they could be very effective is by only focusing on right-wing antisemitism. A relentless, one-sided, unshaded, nakedly partisan attack on right-wing antisemitism could have a real impact on how antisemitism is perceived in the US.

I say this would be good only from a "cold-blooded" perspective because it reflects an attribute of politics that I hate: the necessity of "bad cops". In this case, that means intentional, partisan bias against the right on the subject of antisemitism -- all attack, no defense; against targets fairly and unfairly identified. This, after all, is how the right has treated antisemitism for the past few years -- hammering its existence on the left while refusing to even acknowledge its presence at home. Unlike the progressive community, which has (haltingly and unevenly) sought to grapple with antisemitism in its ranks, the right simply does not take up the issue at all. They're assisted by the fact that, up to this point, the left hasn't made fighting right-wing antisemitism a direct priority -- too often their response when it pops up is instead make an indirect whine about media bias ("can you imagine if Ilhan Omar said this?"). Even if the complaint has some merit, it suffers from the same defect as all other charges of hypocrisy: if Ilhan Omar said it, we know these same voices would be defending her to the hilt and calling the whole thing a smear. Attacks of this sort aren't actually attacks on right-wing antisemitism, they're attacks on paying attention to antisemitism at all. So it's not surprising that they don't yield sustained attention to bad conservative actors.

The result of all of this is that antisemitism controversies on the left stay in the news for weeks, while right-wing controversies fade after a day or so. I very much believe that one of the gravest mistakes the American Jewish community has made in recent years is that we've made it so that an honest though incomplete attempt at redressing antisemitism is viewed as worse than refusing to reckon with it at all. But that is, sadly, the world we're in. And in that world, United Against Hate offers the potential of shifting the narrative a little bit -- if it can maintain message discipline. That means mostly ignoring antisemitism on the left -- not defending it, not attacking it (you'll note that the RJC spends very little time defending someone like Jason Lewis -- whenever his name comes up, they ignore him and start talking about Ilhan Omar again). It means resisting the cry of "hypocrisy" -- a sword that nearly always cuts both ways -- and a simple, relentless concentration on right-wing antisemitic activity in America. Over and over, until the drumbeat becomes irresistible.

There is room for a movement like this, because to some extent the United Against Hate people are right -- mainstream Jewish groups haven't fully risen to the occasion of the moment. Of course, neither have the groups in this coalition: for the most part, they've manifestly failed to be productive actors in the fight against antisemitism; until now the overwhelmingly majority of their contributions to the subject was denying that the problem exists in non-trivial quantities. And there is very good reason to be skeptical that they will not be able to resist falling into old habits -- spending 90% of their time explaining why attacks on antisemitism in the Women's March are "smears" or insisting that blacklisting the overwhelming majority of the Jewish community is wholly compatible with fighting anti-Jewish hate.

But -- maybe they won't do that. Maybe they'll "just" attack right-wing antisemitism in a single-minded, unmediated fashion. In its best possible form, United Against Hate will likely be aggressive, one-sided, unnuanced, and occasionally even unfair. And in the terrible world that is 2020, that still might make them a useful corrective to our scarred discourse about antisemitism.

via The Debate Link https://ift.tt/2QhYN80

[dear-hikikomari]

[READ ME; ASK RULES]

This is my policy on incoming asks; make sure to take a read through these before sending anything. Asks that break the rules will be deleted on sight, so keep that in mind!

All asks will be assumed as directed to Mari unless otherwise specified.

If you send an ask to the blog, I’ll answer it IC with a little Mari doodle to accompany the response. This is open to anybody, so long as you abide by these rules! That said, if you want to interact with her through a character of your own, make sure to refer to my roleplay rules first; my guidelines for that are a bit stricter. If you’d like to talk to me, the ‘mun,’ directly, make sure to address me in the ask so I know it’s to me! My IMs are also open, but I will not be answering them IC; those are for mun talk only.

Be respectful to the blogger!

Remember that this is something I’m doing for fun; I’ll do my best to get to all the asks and give fun responses, but I can’t make any promises. It’ll largely depend on what I feel up to answering, what art I get inspired for, where stuff fits best in the narrative, etc etc. If I take a while to get to your ask or wind up not answering it, please don’t take it personally. You’re always welcome to send something else! You can ask if you’re worried an ask got eaten, but please don’t try to pressure me into answering faster; that’ll just result in it getting deleted. Additionally, absolutely do not attempt to drag me into drama of any kind; I’m not here for that.

Absolutely no NSFW, but other dark content may be present.

Expect canon-typical levels of disturbing content; psychological horror, body horror, character death, self-harm and suicide, mental illness, etc will all likely be present here to some degree. That said, I am not at all comfortable with sexual content and will not be accepting any asks of that nature directed at the mun or muse. Please do not send them here. Offenders will have their asks deleted and/or blocked, depending on severity.

Don’t repost or use my artwork without permission.

Unless otherwise specified, all icons, promo images, sidebar images, and other artwork utilized in asks or the blog itself were drawn by the mun. Please do not repost it elsewhere or use it off the blog without asking me first. If you’d like to use it for roleplay icons or something I might be okay with that, but let me know and make sure to credit me somewhere. I do reserve the right to say no, though.

Please don’t reblog roleplay threads you’re not a part of.

Most of my content is a-okay for anybody to reblog, but I ask that ‘threads,’ (written interactions between two or more roleplay blogs) are NOT reblogged by people outside of them. This can mess with thread trackers and often is considered really rude to roleplayers, so be respectful of this boundary! If I see this happen, I will be coming to ask you to take it down. That said, liking a thread to show your support is 100% okay!

Crossovers with other ask blogs won’t be canon.

I’m open to doing little cameos and stuff like that with other ask blogs, but bear in mind that they very likely will not be canon to the blogs themselves; they’re just for fun and shenanigans. If you’d like to discuss trying something like that feel free to drop by and ask, I promise I don’t bite! I’m sure we can come up with something.

Some additional notes to keep in mind:

Remember that this Mari is specific to the Hikiko AU.

For reference, the Hikiko AU is an AU of my own design; it’s loosely based on Omari, but with some pretty significant tweaks and story changes. As such, these are the basics you should know; Mari is still alive here, 19 years old, and attending a Junior College a few hours away from Faraway Town. If you’d like to know more, feel free to check out the about and AU pages for everything that’s been revealed thus far! And if there’s anything missing there that you’d like to know… Well, you can always try asking Mari. Just keep in mind that this AU is quite a bit different from the canon timeline or classic Omari, and Mari won’t have knowledge of any of the events that didn’t happen in her world. Likewise, this blog is not affiliated with the Hikki or Omari projects in any way; honestly I can't even keep track of who it is that's actually making them, let alone be in contact with the creators.

This blog is not spoiler free!

If you haven’t played the game or know the story, I highly recommend doing so before interacting with this blog or reading any further. While there’s plenty of divergences, the blog also contains some parallels to pretty significant spoilers and will definitely give away some big twists. Omori is a pretty intense emotional roller coaster of a game so I definitely would suggest experiencing it for yourself if you can handle the content it entails. It isn’t necessarily mandatory to interact here, but will probably add to your experience.

Guest characters may pop up from time to time.

On occasion I might let other characters from the AU participate in an ask or pop up in art. That isn’t to say it’ll happen every time, but I figure that’s a fun way to switch things up– and possibly provide some details Mari herself might not be as keen on discussing. That said, I can’t guarantee that an ask addressing them will always make it to the intended recipient– that depends on how likely they are to be able to find it. But do feel free to try if you’d like! You might just learn something interesting in the process.

Mari is an unreliable narrator.

Much like Sunny in Omori, she’s not always going to be honest about what really happened or how she’s actually feeling. Her experiences aren’t always true to reality, often laced with hallucinations, delusions, and dissociation. After all, Mari is someone who strains herself very hard to maintain an image of perfection and stability– and that’s one thing which has remained a constant here. It’s going to take quite a bit of effort to peel back that mask of smiles.

Check here for the dedicated tags!

I have a handful of dedicated tags for different content; feel free to blacklist anything you don’t want to see. I also track the tag #dear hikikomari, so feel free to use that if there’s something you’d like me to see!

#asks - the answered ask catch-all. #threads - the roleplay thread catch-all. #main; dreaming of you - the tag for main ask blog content. #side; pure imagination - the tag for non-canon side content. #my art; through her eyes - mun art tag (posted or reblogged) #reblog; strange reflections - others’ art tag (promos and etc) #mun post; the music stops - ooc posts from the mun.

And now, meet the mun!

Hey, thanks for reading this far! Feel free to call me Timey. I’m 25, and use she/her pronouns. I’ve been roleplaying across various platforms since 2010, so this is just the latest in a long series of experiments; I’ve had this AU in the works for quite a while, so an ask blog felt like a fun and interactive way to share it with folks. Here’s hoping you’ll all enjoy it as much as I do!

[hawkinslibrary]

i love hearing what you have to say about season 4!! i promise it’s not too long lol, anyway i have a question for you: what do you think the next season holds for mike & el? i’m a little worried tbh

ahhh thank you !! same rules apply: spoilers ahead, so please read no further and blacklist/filter out the ‘s4′, ‘st4′, ‘spoilers’ tags if you don’t want to see anything !! 

i’m going to talk about them both as individuals and as a pair but first, i have to say that i don’t personally feel like you have to worry about them breaking up or anything again this season. i think s4 is really going to establish romantic jopper and once that happens, i don’t see them, mileven, or jancy not being endgame unless someone actually dies. which -- i’m not going to think about the possibility of anyone dying until i’m forced to confront it, so. this is fiction and it’s already unrealistic and i’m gonna take my ‘everyone survives, happiness all around, time to relax’ endings and go. anyway, i would love to add lumax to this list but i honestly think it could go either way depending on what happens in s4. that’s a different essay, though.

i tend to think that the most important dynamic on the show is the one between the whole group and i just don’t really see them spending much more time trying to develop romantic relationships outside of the ones set up since s1/2. maybe steve, robin, and will get love interests, maybe they decide to develop dustin and suzie more, maybe suzie is never even mentioned again, idk. but these will probably all be secondary -- as in less screen time, not less important than the main romances, but probably still less developed. unless it happens to be a new person added to the main cast. which, as of now, the only new mains are brett and priah who has gone from recurring to regular. so.  

i think s3 showed how messy and complicated romantic relationships (or, really just relationships in general) can be. everyone was arguing, there was miscommunication all around, everyone thought they knew what was best, no one was seeing eye to eye. but when it comes down to it, they would do anything for each other. they understand each other better than anyone else ever could. i can’t see them spending another season on breakups and romance drama after the ending of s3.  

mike and el have already been separated once before. this time, mike knows for sure that she’s alive and that’s she’s with the byers. this time, el won’t be kept completely isolated away from everyone else. they’ve made plans to meet for the holidays. they can still call and talk to each other as much as they want. i’m hoping they handle being separated this time better than they did in s2. i don’t want mike to be moping and i don’t want el to spend a lot of the season thinking about how much she misses him. in fact, i think in their case that some distance could be good for them. the same for jancy and jopper, too, honestly. it’ll be nice to see them existing outside of these relationships while still acknowledging how important they are.   

as far as i know, the byers and el stuff has not started filming yet so all there is to speculate on are rumors, the audition tapes, and logical guesses about where the story goes after s3. el obviously moves away with the byers. we still don’t know where. she’ll still be mourning hopper and trying to figure out life without her powers. and, of course, she’ll be in a long distance relationship with mike. i think she’ll be having a hard time and she’ll wish that mike was around, but she’ll realize she’s got a pretty good support system around her now with the byers, too. i’m very, very excited for more joyce and el content particularly, but there’s gotta be some great scenes with her and will and jonathan as well. 

there’s only one audition tape that i can confidently tie into the byers + el plot(s?) and it’s the queen bee/mean girl character ‘angela’. if we’re running with the whole ‘there may be some truth to the audition vids’ thing, then this one teases that el will be going to school and that angela will be bullying her. this is something she would probably want to talk about with mike (b i g troy s1 vibes) but i don’t know if she actually would ? so this is probably more a thing that el and will could bond over or that she could talk about with joyce or maybe jonathan. i do think there will be at least a few calls between the two of them before the action really hits and the whole group is (hopefully...) reunited.

so, el -- at least in the beginning of s4 -- will be going to school where ‘angela’ bullies her, forming a bond with joyce + will + jonathan and becoming part of the family, mourning hopper (+ hopefully having conversations about him + his past with joyce), missing her friends back in hawkins, continuing to learn how to navigate life without her powers, and trying to maintain a long distance relationship with mike. 

mike... i’ve been seeing some wild theories about him today but they aren’t really that far-fetched i think. first, going back to the audition tapes, the ‘eddie’ audition i saw makes it seem like mike is going to be part of the hellfire club with dustin. i’ve recently learned that there’s another version of the scene where ‘eddie’ is only talking to dustin and mike might not be a part of the club after all. if he isn’t part of the club, then the basketball v. hellfire, jocks v. nerds thing turns into lucas v. dustin and mike’s probably there just caught in the middle while max is off distancing herself from everyone.

at this point, i really want mike and max to become good friends. i think the end of s3 gave them the perfect opportunity. s4 max has s2 mike vibes. it’s not the same situation at all, but he knows kinda what she’s feeling and they could connect through that + the fact that they’ll both be missing el. i also just really want... some wheeler siblings content. i’m hopeful that s4 gives us good nancy and mike scenes bc there’s no reason not to give us good nancy and mike scenes (+holly!). however...

while there’s proof that gaten and sadie and natalia and priah have all been filming since production restarted, and while i have reason to believe that caleb has been filming a lot inside/at the studio recently... there’s no evidence that finn has been on set. there’s none for maya and joe, either, but people have said that finn isn’t even in atlanta right now. maybe he is and maybe he just hasn’t been seen and maybe he’ll pop back up tomorrow. or, maybe he already filmed whatever he needed to film for hawkins before production stopped.  

the wild theory that’s popped up today is that everything gets to be too much for him in hawkins and he just... hops on a train to go visit el + the byers. i don’t know if i buy it, but it is interesting to note that he was sitting with them at the table read. and since we can guess that steve and robin will still be working at the video store, robin and nancy will be investigating pennhurst together, lucas and max may have some angst, joyce and murray are probably teaming up for the finding/saving hopper plot, and el is going to bond with will and jonathan, it seems like the order might mean a little something. i’d even bet that dustin and erica have scenes with them bonding over d&d.    

now this theory pretty much only exists because no one’s seen finn on set and one of the paps posted some pics of some trains. there’s also always theories about how there will be issues at home with the wheeler fam and if that’s going to happen, what better time than in s4 when all of his friends are pulling away and el’s gone again. so if he is missing el (and will) that much, and if he has any reason to worry about her and how she’s doing, or if the party becoming distant and issues at home are weighing on him and he feels like he needs to get away, he’s absolutely the type to venture off on a train by himself. i don’t know how it would work since he’s definitely supposed to still be in school and his friends/nancy at least would notice he’s gone, but.. it’s fun to think about and we’ve got zero actual content to go off of right now.  

another way i could see mike’s plot going is that he’s the one trying to keep the party together this season. playing mediator with lucas and dustin, becoming better friends with max, being the connection between the hawkins plot and the byers plot (along with nancy). 

there was also talk of him joining the track team bc the track has been set up with hawkins high colors for filming. but mike ‘this isn’t a stupid sports game’ wheeler? i don’t think so... basically, no one knows at the moment what’s happening with mike wheeler in s4 lol.

s4 mike is just like s4 byers fam -- a complete mystery to me currently. i don’t personally think that he’ll be leaving school and hopping on a train to visit el. i think he’ll be a part of the hellfire club with dustin, or that he won’t and instead will be attempting to keep the party from completely disbanding. i hope that we get wheeler siblings scenes and that max and mike have a breakthrough and become better friends. i also feel like he’ll be having some complicated feelings about hopper, the last interaction they had, etc. and, again, the whole long distance thing with el. 

so... mike and el broke up in s3. it was messy. but then they reconciled. and then hopper “died”. s3 ended with them at this weird place where she’s heard him say that he loves her and she’s told him that she loves him back. things are a little awkward in the scene bc everything has changed at this point, but a kiss, an ‘i love you’, planning to meet up on the holidays, and promising to call frequently all sounds like they’re back together and going to try making the long distance thing work to me. 

i think they’ll be together when s4 starts. i think that we’ll probably only see them talking on the phone or their radios for the first few eps. maybe we’ll see flashbacks or something to them being together on the holidays. the distance might be hard and they’re definitely going to be missing each other. like... el doesn’t have mike or hopper with her now and i’m thinking the party is going to be drifting apart, plus they’re both probably going to have other personal issues that have nothing to do with each other or the party. maybe they’ll be experiencing some emotional distancing of their own while dealing with the aftermath of hopper’s “death”, the move, and whatever’s going on with them at home and at school. i think that once they reunite (probably not until the last half of the season), they’re likely to be stronger than ever. 

now, onto personal theories that have zero basis. for some reason, i can’t get it out of my head that this season might dive into psychological horror a little bit ? like a greatest fears type of thing ?? and i keep thinking about brenner popping back up and using the people el loves to get to her or something and 👀👀 

[codewordpumpkin]

A Very Denny Christmas

Merry Christmas, @heart4hawkeye​ !! I’m so sorry I couldn’t post this sooner! I don’t even know if you’ve ever watched Boston Legal before, but hopefully, you’ll enjoy this little fic nonetheless!!

“Really, Reddington? Your Blacklister couldn’t wait until after the holidays? It’s Christmas Eve, for god’s sake.”

“I’m sorry, Donald, did you have something better planned? Well, don’t pout or shout just yet. If you’ve been a particularly good boy this year, you may just find a gift from Santa waiting for you at home… or on your doorstep if you’d prefer the illusion of security—I know the FBI loves that.”

Cooper’s brows furrowed as his temples began to throb. “Reddington.”

Red was adept at picking his battles.

“Denny Crane,” he said, as if the name alone was explanation enough.

“The CEO of Flamingo Corp.?” Elizabeth asked.

“The one and only.”

“I still don’t get how he thought that’d be a good name for an arms company,” Aram said from his spot behind his computer.

“Don’t try to get into the head of Denny Crane—it’ll only make yours ache.”

Hands on his hips, Ressler asked, “Is he the next person on the Blacklist?”

“Heavens, no! Denny is a dear associate of mine, and he is to remain untouched by you ham-fisted lot.”

“Get on with it, Red.”

“Relax, Harold. I was, as you so eloquently put it, getting there.” Brushing imaginary lint off his pristine vest, the infuriating man smiled blandly, reveling in the glares burning holes in his suit as he took his sweet time to elaborate. “The man has a memory of a goldfish, hence why he carries around a voice recorder everywhere he goes. That is the key to our next Blacklister.”

“Are you going to tell us who this Blacklister is?”

“All in due time, Samar. All in due time.”

“How are we going to get our hands on this recorder?”

“You mean, your hands. Really, Elizabeth, modesty doesn’t become you.” Before she could snap a retort, he continued, “Denny is hosting a Christmas party this evening. I am invited, as is my plus one, and I have no doubt we’ll have at least one server slipping on banana peels tonight.”

“All right, then,” Cooper exhaled slowly, “brief Agent Keen on her cover, and—”

“Actually, Harold, I was thinking Agent Navabi should accompany me this time.”

That caught everyone’s attention.

“And why is that?”

“Ah, well, I know how much Elizabeth loathes dressing up for these things, so I thought, why not give her a little break—”

“I’ll take a break once we get this over with, Reddington,” Liz said, trying to will down the flush spreading across her cheeks. She hoped the tinge of hurt in her voice had gone undetected.

Cooper turned to Red, an expectant look on his weary face.

“Well, then,” he nodded, clearly displeased, “you’ll need a dress.”

***

“Raymond!”

“Denny!”

Elizabeth watched with mild amusement as the two men exchanged an enthusiastic bear hug. With sparkling eyes and stretched cheeks, they greeted each other rather boisterously, falling into a chatter as if they had never been apart. She was certain they were speaking English, but for the life of her, couldn’t understand what in the world they were actually saying.

“Well, well, well, well, well, and who might this goddess be?”

The stout, rosy-faced man openly leered at her, scrutinizing her from the toes of her strappy heels to the top of her styled head, then dipping back down to gaze at her modest curves. She, too, took the time to scan his appearance, glancing at his expensive tux only fleetingly before zeroing in on the ridiculous headband that held a conspicuously tall sprig of mistletoe.

“Ah,” Red acted as though he had forgotten her very existence, “Denny, meet Elizabeth. Elizabeth, meet Denny.”

Smiling politely, she reached out her hand—which Denny immediately grasped, stamping a kiss just beneath her knuckles. “I’m sure it’s a pleasure to meet me, Lizzie,” he said so smoothly that, for a second, she thought she had misheard him. She also had to apply considerable force to tug her hand out of his stubborn grip. “Denny Crane.”

She wasn’t sure whether Red’s twitch was a result of Crane calling her Lizzie, or if it was because of his overly friendly touch. Either way, his reaction didn’t bother her. In fact, she could admit to herself, she rather liked it.

“Of course,” she finally responded.

Turning to Red, he said in a stage whisper, “You sly dog, still got the touch, eh? But, say… isn’t she a bit old for you? What say I take—”

“Keep your pants where they are, Denny,” Red cut him off, his smile no longer reaching his eyes. “Did I mention Elizabeth’s a vegan?”

She blinked.

Denny blinked.

“What the hell is that?” his associate asked, genuinely confused. “Listen, there aren’t many kinks I don’t know about, but kids today—”

“It means, she not only doesn’t eat meat,” he continued to lie, “she doesn’t consume any animal products at all.”

Gasping, Denny snapped, “Now why the hell would you do that? What, is she anti-gun, too?”

“Careful, Denny,” he warned gravely, “just the word g-u-n is enough to get her shaking in her heels. Point a water-gun in her face, and she’ll scream bloody murder.”

Where the hell was he going with this?

“A veggie and a communist! Where’d you pick this one up, Red? Los Angeles?” Before Red could respond, he waved a dismissive hand. “Well, whatever. You must keep her around for a reason…” He waggled his brows, then winked as if she wasn’t right there. Straightening his bow, he offered her his hand. “Care for a dance, sweetheart? I’ll show you just how well my body moves… Denny Crane.”

“Actually—”

“Sure,” she shot Red a meaningful look, hoping he understood what she was trying to convey, “I’d love to.”

Just before they left for the dance floor, Denny again stage-whispered, “There’s a g-u-n in my pants I’d bet my life she—”

“Denny—”

By then, the egotistical, borderline-predator flirt was too far away for him to strangle. Or gut. Or maim.

Trying not to let Raymond’s withering glare distract her from her task, she brought one of her hands up to rest on Denny’s puffed chest. “So, how did you meet Raymond?” she casually asked, doing her best to maintain a respectable distance between them—which was easier said than done, considering he was doing his best to plaster their bodies together. On the bright side, that meant he was too preoccupied to notice her wandering fingers.

“Why talk about that fat cat when we can talk about Denny Crane? Go ahead, ask me anything.” He continued before she could. “Why, yes, I’m very giving in bed. I’ll go down—”

“To the bar,” Red said, appearing from out of nowhere just as Denny was about to grope her ass. “There was a leggy blonde looking for you.”

“Leggy, you say? How many legs are we talking here? You know, my father once said that the best sex—”

“She won’t be waiting all night, Denny. I’d run as fast as I can if I were you.”

Was she imagining the threat laced in his words?

“We’ll have to continue this later, Lizzie.” Dropping her like a hot potato, he licked his lips and turned to dash. Looking over his shoulder, he bid, “Keep her warm for me, Ray.”  

Luckily for him, he was surprisingly fast.

“I got the recorder,” she quietly confirmed to Red, assuming that was the reason he had interrupted her dance with Denny. “I’ll just pass it to Ressler or Samar—”

“The song isn’t over yet, Lizzie,” he said, reclaiming his nickname for her with a glint of… something in his eyes, his voice.

With one hand in hers and the other low on her back, he encouraged her to fall into step with him, their movements easy and natural. But even when the song ended and changed, they didn’t stop, instead slowing further and sinking into the lulling rhythm of the music.

She wasn’t aware of when or how it had happened, but she belatedly realized just how close their faces were. A mere inch forward would allow her to graze her nose against his smooth skin, inhale the clean, unique scent of him. A little closer, and she would be able to taste the champagne on his lips. With a gentle pressure, a slight gasp, she could so easily—

They jumped apart at the sound of a loud crash.

It didn’t take long for them to discern where the commotion was coming from, as there was already a loose crowd forming near the bar—and at the very center of it was none other than Denny Crane.

He was standing across from a scowling man and a tall blonde woman…

Raymond and Elizabeth both had a feeling they knew what had started this mess.

“I didn’t proposition her. I just asked her to have sex with me,” Denny announced, as if that was a perfectly acceptable thing to say.

The man’s face flushed with a worrisome shade of crimson, and to everyone’s horror, revealed that he was seriously armed. Before he could do anything with it, however, a loud bang shocked everyone still.

On his previously unblemished pants, right in the middle of his thigh, was a bright blob of yellow… paint?

“Oops. Wrong one.” Bending down, Denny retrieved a small gun that had been strapped to his ankle. “Denny Crane doesn’t get shot at,” he yelled, aiming at the man’s other thigh and pulling the trigger without hesitation. “Denny Crane shoots!”

Chaos commenced as the two literally engaged in a gun fight. Bullets whizzed, screams erupted, glass shattered. People ran this way and that, tripping over dresses, abandoning stilettos, and doing their best to escape with their flesh in tact.

“I was a sniper in the Navy!… Or was I a helicopter pilot?” Now with a gun in each hand, Denny shot bullet after bullet, shouting as he ducked and spun. “I have an erection. Lock and load, baby! Denny Crane!”

“That’s our cue to leave,” Red said in her ear, practically dragging her by the elbow. On their way out, he released her briefly to stop Ressler from getting involved. Something on the ground caught her eye, and she used the few seconds she had to take it, attempting not to get trampled on in the process. “Lizzie. Now.”

This time, they didn’t stop walking until they were safely encased in the back of his car, Dembe driving them out into the night.

Keeping her stolen object carefully hidden, she turned to Red and smirked. “Well, that was interesting.”

“That’s one way of saying it,” he said, chuckling.

He leaned back, settling into the seat and closing his eyes. Knowing an opportunity when she saw one, she gripped the accessory from beside her hip and placed it on his head, refusing to move away as he jerked and snapped his eyes back open.

She didn’t give him a chance to question her.

She didn’t give herself the chance.

Not wanting to waste another second, she pressed her mouth to his.

The kiss was chaste, but it lingered—long enough for her to notice just how soft his lips were. And although she had always been more of a wine girl, she reveled in the fact that she really could taste the remnants of champagne, the crisp flavor blending with subtle, intoxicating notes that could only be described as him.

Finally, after seconds or minutes—time was irrelevant to her at that moment—she pulled back, still close enough to feel his radiating heat and sense his racing pulse. Just as his thumb had stroked the small of her back, she used hers to brush his lips, his jaw, before reaching up to flick the mistletoe hanging above them.

“Merry Christmas, Red,” she said, just as softly as her smile.

Pushing his tongue against the inside of his cheek, slowly gathering his wits, he tentatively reached for her hand and tangled their fingers together. “Merry Christmas, Lizzie.”

Neither of them spoke for the rest of the ride, but both knew that they didn’t need to.

Words could wait.

For now, they had each other.

Finally.

[clarionglass]

it’s been three days and i still have a lot of Opinions about the new episode of dw, so i’m posting to get all this spam out. some of these thoughts i haven’t already seen in the dw tag? doesn’t mean they’re not out there, i haven’t checked the tag comprehensively, but i just want to add my 2c worth. obviously MASSIVE spoilers for spyfall part 1, so i’m putting this under the cut so i don’t disturb anyone who a) somehow hasn’t seen it and b) doesn’t have spoilers blacklisted

aight here we are chums we’re back with good old-fashioned nu!who feel--i loved the last series, but this came crashing back with a confident, punchy opening very much with the feel of nu!who, and i am So on board this is all gonna be about The Reveal because as we all know, i am rather obsessed with the master

firstly! the reveal itself was handled so well! for five main reasons: 1. we weren’t expecting to see the master so soon after apparent permadeath, even though we all knew the master was gonna come back, general feeling was that they’d give it a bit more time 2. it was a big reveal at the start of the series, not at the end of an arc with lots of teaser glimpses, where in all the speculation the master’s name is inevitably brought up 3. to scab an idea from a good pal, o wasn’t batshit insane. missy clearly was from day dot, as was razor, but o was this very normal, mild MI6 nerd who seemed plain ol average.  4. the master has changed genders before, but never race, so that may have set up unconscious bias/expectations, which were clearly thwarted 5. they kept such a tight lid on leaks and spoilers (unlike the return of simm!master) so all of these combined for a genuinely blindsiding reveal which i Loved

speaking of! thank you sacha dhawan for that incredible acting, oh my god such a switch-flip moment, he goes from nice background character to chewing the scenery and his delivery! ohhhhh my god j’adore 13 (in mounting dread): ...ohhhh o (excitedly): that--that’s my name! and that is why i chose it! so satisfying satisfying for me too, my boy, me too ”or should i say spy... master” fuck “you can’t be” / “i can be. and i very much am” and then the fuckign ”call me master”  chills, genuine chills (lol graham’s quiet, incredulous “call you what?” is amazing) his fuckin nose crinkle??? i think something happens with his hair as well, can’t pinpoint the moment even with several rewatches, but his hair goes from being very off his face to falling in his eyes, and gives him this manic cast which is oh-so-appropriate the return of the tce! so happy to see it in the new series, love me a good shrinky dink and the way he so casually tosses the matchbox aside he’s clearly very evil in this, and i’m hoping that won’t destroy missy’s character arc. current theory is that he’s post-simm, pre-missy (as possibly evidenced by the drumming in the preview? but unsure). definitely some callbacks to harold saxon tho, that trying to drive a subtle wedge between graham and the doctor with the whole “how well do you really know her?” thing is such a saxon move, and you could see it peeping through when he said that “nobody would create such a detailed legend,” yaz replied with “but it’s not impossible,” and his look was just. studiously blank which reminds me, his acting when he goes inside the tardis??? a gift, a treasure i choose to believe that “ridiculous” is his genuine comment on the decor, just as i choose to believe that the doctor’s suit pants started life as normal-length suit pants, but she cut the bottoms off herself to suit her style as has been pointed out in a million other meta posts, 13 is running from her past, and this new master is going to force her to confront it, which is a plot point i am so so keen for also, did anyone else pick up that his first words as the master were “got me. well done.” and his last words were “got you. finally.” he sees it as a constant game of one-upmanship, and as a spectator? bring it on

and not to be That Person but i’m going to be That Person that’s right folks it’s detailed character analysis time because there are two moments in that scene where the master is waiting for the doctor to catch up the first is the reveal, and he’s loving every moment of it. it’s not blood that runs through his veins, it’s dramatic bitch juice. he’s crafted this deception perfectly, he’s maintained it for literal years (”i met o! years ago!” / “i Know!!”), and it wasn’t meant to be seen through until the time he chose to reveal himself, even though he can’t help himself from giving a few little hints, playing games to see how much he can sneak under the radar. and when he reveals himself, he delights in the few moments of confusion before the doctor realises how clever he’s been conversely, the bit with the bomb it’s another switch-flip moment, all his excitement and giddiness and goofiness is drawn aside for a few seconds to reveal this burning core of anger “no! do you really think that i would not make it sonic proof, doctor? come on!” he’s properly angry there, because he didn’t think he had to explain himself, he expected her to have got it already to quote tRoS, they’re a dyad, they’re the only two people in the universe who really understand each other they understand each other, and they expect to be understood, on such a fundamental level and he’s angry because he expected her to know him. she disappointed him in that moment. fuck i just love their dynamic so much??? as friends, as enemies, as some ungodly combination of both

all in all this is just a long way of saying i loved spyfall, i loved the final five minutes in particular, and i’m so so keen for the next ep to see how some of my questions get resolved (also VOR better stand for something otherwise i was sniggering all ep at completely unnecessary vore references and that’s just disappointing)

[orionsangel86]

Do you still believe that Destiel will be canon? I've seen so much negativity about it lately and it's making me lose hope.

I got the above ask about a little while ago and I’ve hesitated to answer it for several reasons. 

Then yesterday, the boys announced the final season of the show next year, and last night I got this ask:

I’ve blocked this asshole obviously, but this nasty ask full of lies and hate has motivated me to answer the first.

First of all, let me be very VERY clear here:

No one has ever said Destiel is TOTALLY happening. Please get that right out of your heads. The only people claiming this bullshit are the ones who always attack meta writers and its the same old crap every time. Claiming we “gaslight” fans is a new one though. That word has really become in vogue lately hasn’t it?

No one is gaslighting anyone. I don’t get why people don’t understand this. All we do in this little meta community is talk among ourselves in the same way people have been talking about literature and media for centuries. It’s up to the reader to make their own assumptions. Our meta is not infallible. Every fan is responsible for their own expectations. Do not blame meta writers if you can’t manage yours. No one is claiming that they speak the ultimate FACTS. We only ever voice our opinions and interpretations because it is our passion to discuss and analyse and speculate. For anyone to hate on us for that just fills me with pity for those people tbh. I think you have to be a pretty pathetic person to send another person anonymous messages like the one above.

I won’t address the other bullshit in that crappy ask. It’s all just garbage spewed by a hater for the pure purpose to be hateful and try to get a rise out of me. But it has got me thinking about my current opinion of Destiel. Which is why I have finally decided to answer this ask.

Do I think it will be made textual? Right now I will admit that I am cautiously optimistic. The current narrative and direction of the story definitely has the potential for Destiel to be realised. Though I admit this opinion rests almost solely on knowing that Castiel’s deal with the Empty Entity will be a focus for season 15. If Cas never made that deal, I am not sure I would have the same faith. Having said that, there is still so much unspoken between Dean and Cas, and since this is now the endgame, I would like to think that the writers may choose to finally tie up some of these loose plot threads that have been gathering since season 8.

I live in the camp that believes that the creative team have intentionally been weaving Destiel into the narrative of the show for years with the hope that they can get a green light from the execs to bring it textual at some point. Destiel has got far too close to the surface level line for anyone to dare claim Destiel shippers are “delusional” now, even the antis stopped saying that in season 12 and instead cried “pandering” of the writing team. I still maintain my view that they crossed a line in Season 12 and in what I like to call the “season 12/13 escalation” which pushed Destiel to one of the main story plot lines and really drummed home just how much Dean and Cas mean to each other. They can’t ever now claim the fans imagined it after that. Too many people saw the escalation as romantic for them to do that.

So my honest opinion is that they must follow through on their intentions. Its the only way the show will rid itself of that horrible accusation of queerbaiting. Technically it is completely unfair to accuse any story of queerbaiting whilst that story is still being told. Only once the story concludes should we be assessing it and deciding whether to paint it with that brush. 

Yet SPN is a strange beast in that there are several factors to consider even then. I have faith and a lot of respect for the writing team, several of whom are LGBTQ+ people themselves. I just don’t believe that Dabb, Yokey, or Bobo would let us down here. They certainly aren’t intentionally queerbaiting us. I believe they are trying to tell this story whilst fighting tooth and nail behind the scenes with the CW suits to get Destiel approved. I also believe that now we have a solid end date in sight they will fight even harder for it, with the argument that they have nothing to lose by bringing Destiel to text and everything to gain (save for maybe the show being blacklisted in a couple of homophobic countries). Not bringing Destiel to text would actually be a far worse business decision at this point. Hopefully the suits are smart enough to agree to this - they should be, especially if they don’t want to appear completely hypocritical in light of their recent Dare to Defy campaign. 

So if it doesn’t happen I certainly WILL be angry, upset, and furious, and I will drag the CW through the mud all over social media and personally write scathing letters to all media and entertainment outlets I can get hold of to bring attention to how hypocritical they are - but what I won’t be doing is accusing Dabb & Co of queerbaiting, because I just don’t think that is what they are doing.

I consider it more like a Wayward Sisters situation. The writing team want it as much as we do, but the real decision lies with the suits. They’ll be the ones to blame. 

There is of course still the chance that we could get an ambiguous ending - one that is easily interpreted as Destiel but not obvious enough for the most stringent of homophobes to pick up on. I have very mixed feelings about this, but if I’m being realistic, this is probably the likeliest option. This show has always tried to cater to its entire audience, even though it knows that it’s audience has drastically different views on how it should end. An ending that attempts to cater to all, even if the story suffers for it, is still a very large possibility. As much as I like to believe that Dabb doesn’t give a shit about people bitching on Twitter, we have to be realistic and admit that Dabb doesn’t have all the power behind the scenes. Bob Singer and Mark Pedowitz are likely big influencers in how the story will end, and I can’t say I have much faith in either of them to actually “go where the story takes them”.

Hearing this final season announcement, I have a suspicion that the boys and the writing team already knew since at least when episode 300 was being scripted - simply because several things said in the show recently are now looking rather suspicious. John’s speech in episode 300 and Cas’s speech in 14x14 are both beautifully heartfelt statements about loss and enjoying the time we have with those we love. It all suddenly hits very close to home. 

So if we go by this theory, then I expect the next few episodes to be very interesting in terms of what they may reveal for the road to endgame - as this is very much the road we are now on, wherever it may lead. Misha calling the finale “epic” is something else I am heavily side eyeing. If Destiel does get a green light, then I expect we will start to see the signs of this - if not in the coming episodes, then in early season 15. We should see another escalation similar to what we saw in s12/13. Keep an eye out for these potential signs, and if they don’t appear, then we need to prepare ourselves for the worst, and resign ourselves to the fact that the suits probably got scared.

But remember, this is all just my opinion. Take authority over your own expectations, as it is impossible for me to make promises over things I do not know. Whether you have hope or not, you have to deal with it however you choose. Just... don’t be like that anon. Never be like that.

[drawlfoy]

Faux Diplomacy p.1

pairing: draco x femilvermornymugglebornslytherin(a mouthful i know)!reader

request: no, i’ve just always wanted to write this

warnings: explicit language, mentions of drinking, and most importantly, the reader has a moment where she thinks of inducing vomiting (not for a disorder but for a reason totally unrelated). if you’re sensitive to that then i suggest maybe skipping the part where she describes the slytherin boy dormitories. also, drink “spiking” (not date rape drugs though, just veritaserum)

summary: ilvermorny exchange fic during 6th year. reader is sorted into slytherin along with nearly all of the other exchange students. they realize they may be there for another reason than just for diplomacy when they discover that all of them are muggleborn. slow burn for draco...you’re supposed to hate him in the beginning.

a/n: i drafted this in the very beginning of summer without the intent of showing it to anyone, so this is a pretty large step in my writing journey. feel free to share your thoughts and feedback in the replies, i’m always here to hear them! more requests are coming soon and i’ll try and whip out another original idea once i slough through the requests i have right now. also: the best friend and the reader are going to be very affectionate, and i apologize if that’s not your thing. it’s just how i interact with my friends and i like to insert my favorite people in my stories, even when it isn’t very smooth. also if you’re wondering why i have so many fics based in 6th year it’s because i always found that to be the hottest year for draco lmao

music recs: i listened to a lot of lorde when i wrote this for some reason. i couldn’t tell you why but i did lol

word count: 2,038

“This is ridiculous.”

“What?”

I turned around to look at my roommate and best friend, Bella, who was sitting sprawled out on my bed and repeated the sentiment.

“This is ridiculous. My application status is still ‘review’, and everyone else already got their acceptance letter. Do you think it means they’re trying to find a nice way to reject me?”

Bella rolled her eyes in exasperation.

“Jesus Christ Y/N, with your grades and qualifications, they’d be a fool to not let you go. I got in. Hell, even Peter got in!”

Her comment made me crack a smile. Peter was in our year, sure, but a whole idiot. He was probably the lowest ranked person in Y/I/H. His parents were super loaded, though.

“Plus,” Bella added, “Hogwarts doesn’t have much experience with muggle electronics. I hear they switched to electric acceptances for foreign matters for efficiency purposes since they were so sick of losing owls over the Atlantic. They’re a bunch of old geezers that might still be looking for the send button on your acceptance email.”

“Wait.” Y/N froze as she saw something pop up in her inbox from Hogwarts’ administration. “I think they sent me something.”

Suddenly, the hot August air was more stifling than ever. Y/N had an urge to get up and open her window, but she couldn’t leave her laptop. Her eyes were glued to the email.

“You gonna open it, or...” 

“YES! Fine, I’ll do it.” Y/N’s hand clicked on the email and hid her face. Bella’s hands began prying her fingers away from her face. 

“You’ve gotta see it, Y/N. You’ve gotta look!”

Y/N allowed her hands to drop, peering at the screen in front of her. 

No way. No way.

It took her a minute to actually comprehend the words “Congratulations!” on the screen, but once she did, her entire body began vibrating with electricity.

“Oh my GOD!”

“We’re going to Hogwarts together!” Bella shrieked, jumping off Y/N’s bed and grabbing her. The two girls clung to each other while Bella spun them in circles until they fell on the bed with dizziness.

After the Hogwarts acceptance letter, Ilvermorny reached out to the students as well to detail their departure. The 16 students selected--a rather odd number, Y/N thought--were to meet on the Ilvermorny grounds at 6am on September 1st. Dumbledore himself had prepared 4 portkeys for the students and expected them to teleport to Hogwarts using them.

As far as Y/N was concerned, this day couldn’t come soon enough. It was time for her to get away from the loudness of America.

♥♥♥♥ 

The first thing Y/N saw was a very old witch standing in front of her small group of peers. She was wearing a traditional witch hat, something no one ever did back in America.

“Welcome, students.” Y/N was taken aback by just how delicate her voice was. She always forgot how diverse accents were in Europe. “I am Professor McGonagall. We are so pleased to have you joining us for this school year.” 

The elegant old lady fiddled with her eyeglasses before she continued.

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it appears as though there won’t be enough time to sort each and every one of you. We do have a rather large group of first years and would prefer to keep things moving along.” 

Everyone groaned in unison. Who did this lady think she was, taking away their chances at being sorted by the infamous Sorting Hat?

“Thankfully,” she continued, “The head of the Slytherin house, Professor Snape, was gracious enough to take all of you in. It appears as though there are exactly 16 open beds in their dorm, so it works famously. I expect you all to behave yourselves and represent your country well so that we’ll consider taking exchange students next year. We have no qualms with sending students home who don’t follow the rules.”

Everyone nodded, nervously glancing around the group. Y/N couldn’t help but wonder if people were going to be sent home, or if that was simply an empty threat.

“Well, come along then!”

McGonagall ushered the nervous group of witches and wizards across the courtyard and into a giant dining hall, much larger than the one Ilvermorny boasted.

As the students entered, the soft chatter that had filled the room faded away as the Hogwarts students examined the newcomers. Whispers replaced the chatter once they saw a magical display above them unfurl an american flag.

So much for getting away from that obnoxious American stereotype Y/N thought bitterly. What’s next, magical reenactments of the Vietnam War?

“Students,” McGonagall called. “Sit at the Slytherin table.”

A long but well kept fingernail motioned to the long table on the right side, filled with students wearing green.

“Good thing green looks great on both of us!” Bella whispered into Y/N’s ear. She giggled. 

“Yellow and red wash me out. We got lucky.”

Unfortunately for the girls, everyone else had gotten to the table first, leaving only two open seats open. When they saw who was across from them, they began to understand why they were the least desirable seats.

One platinum haired boy and a dark haired girl occupied the seats, both wearing disgusted looks. 

“Hello, I’m-” Y/N’s timid attempt at an introduction was cut short when the dark haired girl cut in.

“We know why you’re here.”

“Excuse me?” Bella looked ready to kill.

“She said,” the blond boy met Y/N’s eyes, “We know why you’re here.”

“Uh...yeah, the weather’s great this time of year.” Y/N tried to push for a laugh, but clearly it wasn’t coming.

“No, you idiot.” The girl raised one eyebrow. “Do you not know?”

“Well, whatever you think you know wasn’t deemed important enough to mention to US, so fuck off,” Bella answered.

“Jesus, Bella, we can at least be nice,” Y/N interjected. “Can you tell us? We probably already know, but sti-”

“No.” The blond boy looked slightly amused at our curiosity. “You’re right. It’s so important that of course you would know. Pansy and I are just playing with you. That’s all you mudbloods are good for, anyways.”

Y/N’s jaw dropped. Blood purity discrimination? That shit was outlawed years ago in the US. If anyone even mentioned the term “muggleborn” in a less than positive light, they were blacklisted. 

“What did you just call us?”

“Perhaps you need to get your ears checked,” the girl shot back. “You heard him.”

Y/N sucked in a breath. She’d woken up at 5 for this. 

“So tell me, Pansy.” Y/N leaned over the table. “Was it an accident? Or were you just born with a pug face?”

The girl turned bright red but maintained her composure. 

“I’m sick of talking to you,” she finally said.

♥♥♥♥

“Oh, bitch, you got her!” Bella was cackling to Y/N in the privacy of her dorm room. “You were like, ‘do tell me’, and the second those words left your lips, I was like, oh no, here it comes...”

They both ugly laughed on the bed together until their sides hurt. 

“Blondie was kind of hot though,” Y/N admitted.

“Kind of. I guess, if you’re into racists.” 

“Well, it’s a good thing I’m not.” Y/N chucked a pillow at Bella/s head, just narrowly missing it and instead hitting her suitcase. 

A knock on their door sounded, stopping their shenanigans. Bella crept up to open it and saw Laurel, another girl from their year, with a few other kids.

“The Slytherins are throwing a welcome party for us in the common room,” Lucy informed them. “The nice ones are, at least.”

“There’s nice Slytherins?” Bella asked sarcastically. “Whatever. We’re in. Give us a minute to get dressed.”

Lucy nodded, shutting the door. Y/N could hear their footsteps walk away from their room.

The two rushed to get out of the sad looking sweats they were planning to sleep in, Y/N opting for a skirt and a short sleeved shirt. She’d always been a fan of old-fashioned plaid.

♥♥♥♥

Y/N did not get drunk. It was the unspoken rule between her and Bella: one of them drinks, the other one sips and plays the mom friend. Y/N was always the mom, something she didn’t mind that much, but at the welcome party, she indulged in two cups of firewhiskey. She held her liquor well anyways, and it wasn’t like anyone had to drive. 

A few hours had gone by when a Slytherin girl who introduced herself as Daphne Greengrass stood on a table and yelled, “Everyone, quiet!”

The music quieted a little and the chatter erased itself as the room waited on her words.

“In Slytherin tradition,” the Greengrass girl said, “We’re going to play a game of Truth or Dare. The Firewhiskey has been laced with Veritaserum, so if you’re choosing truth, beware! We’re playing around this table!”

With that, Daphne stepped down and all the Ilvermorny students stood frozen. Y/N couldn’t believe that the Slytherins spiked their drinks. She also couldn’t believe the fact that she accepted drinks from people she didn’t know, violating every bit of party safety rules her father had taught he. He’d be so disappointed.

Against her better judgement, Y/N allowed herself to be pulled to the table by a very intoxicated but very cheerful Bella. She managed a smile--she loved drunk Bella almost more than she loved normal Bella. She’d always heard that people became their true selves when they drank. If that was the case, Bella was the sunniest person to walk the earth.

Unfortunately for Y/N, she was sitting next to Daphne, who announced that the person to the right of her would spin the bottle to see who the question poser would be. That was Y/N.

She sighed, already deciding on asking for a dare. She wasn’t holding back any secrets, but she didn’t want to answer anything with a dumb or embarrassing detail of her life.Y/N spun the bottle, praying for it to land on Bella.

Nope.

When it stopped, she looked up to meet the eyes of the girl she insulted in the Dining Hall: Pansy.

“Well,” she drawled, a smirk forming on her face,”Truth? Or dare?”

“Dare.”

“Hm.”

Y/N could nearly see the gears in her head turning to find the cruelest dare she could. Finally, her eyes light up and her smirk deepened.

“You know who I don’t see here?” 

“Who?”

“Draco,” she responded. Y/N noticed Daphne grimace next to her. “Go wake him up and get him to come out. Of course, he probably won’t come out. But you have to at least make a valiant effort.”

“Ok.” Y/N gulped. “Where is he?”

“I’m going to assume his room.” The Slytherins surrounding her chuckled. “But if you want specifics: last door on the right of the boy’s dormitories. Zabini will let you in. You can go now.”

Y/N stumbled off with the boy she assumed was Zabini. He opened the door for her, whispering the password under his breath and looking almost sorry for her. “Good luck.”

♥♥♥♥

The dormitories were exponentially cooler than the common room, and Y/N felt herself shiver at the sensation of the air on her bare skin. The stone walls and flooring made her feel as though she was in a dungeon, something she found to be an interesting choice for a house with so many wealthy students.

Y/N slowly crept towards the furthest door on the right, pondering her options. She could, of course, just come back and lie, saying he didn’t answer. Then she remembered the Veritaserum in her drink. Maybe if she tried hard enough, she could get herself to throw it up, but her logical mind struck that idea down. The alcohol was already absorbed and she would have to explain to everyone why there was a pool of bile outside the door she was tasked to knock on. 

There was something else that was nagging at her, though, a morbid curiosity regarding what someone like him could be bothering himself with on a Friday night. If he wasn’t partying, was he sleeping? 

It simply didn’t add up.

Y/N knew what she had to do. She raised her hand to knock on the door.

[ad1ostoreador]

>> Spill over.

(in which a very small sand castle is built, @ad1ostoreador actually manages to Verbalize a Feeling or Even Two, to @blurry-end-evil, and they commiserate over the wreckage one Serket left of multiple lives.  warnings: features an abuse survivor still being angry and venting off steam about the experiences that left physical and emotional scars on him, and the people who stood around and watched it happen, in ways that are not particularly forgiving or flattering to anyone involved.)

ad1ostoreador:

Tavros has flown himself to physical exhaustion, if still nothing approaching sleep, and is now sitting sort of huddled up on a dry hummock of sand, some distance along the beach and nearly out of view from the main hive.  He's got his knees pulled to his chest and his arms around them, ears pinned back, and is still wearing somewhat smeared facepaint.

blurry-end-evil:

Loxi was looking for Tavros, for once glad the troll was tall, with big horns. Though right now, he's not looking so tall. Quite the opposite, in fact. He's on tumblr, he can't have missed it being filled by one Vriska by herself. How surprising.

He walks on the beach towards the curled form, stopping somewhat in the bull's line of sight. "Hey TV. What you're doing here ?" For once he's not teasing, just asking neutrally.

ad1ostoreador:

He barely lifts his head and doesn't look up, but one ear pivots to follow Loxi's approach across the sand. "...just sitting."  His answer is as neutral as the question.

blurry-end-evil:

And here goes Loxi, flopping himself near to him, vaguely cross-legged. "You look like shit." He informs politely.

"Are you going to take me for an idiot again and pretend everything is peachy ?"

ad1ostoreador:

He snorts, shrugging a little. "I, uh, don't really care what I look like, right now... and, probably, you saw enough of the dash, to, um, draw your own conclusions... unless you are actually not following anyone at all, and also living in a hole..."

blurry-end-evil:

"Ha, ha. Believe it or not, I'm actually following people. Tho, yeth. I have hypothethith." A small grin. "Couldn't mithth how thith part of the web thuddenly got even more webs. But I wasn't thure it could make you go be all depreththed on the beach."

ad1ostoreador:

"I'm not depressed..." Not today.  Today, he's just... frustrated and helpless and grouchy.  He's not sure whether it's an improvement or not.  "...they always crawl out of the woodwork in bunches. Like one isn't more than enough..."

blurry-end-evil:

"I'm thurprised tumblr didn't crumble under thith army of eight patth creatureth, yeth. They're thtill good at fooling their world, it theemth." He leans back on his hands.

ad1ostoreador:

"...it's like people just...--" He cuts off again, rubbing at his mouth with the back of one hand, and making a noise that isn't entirely unlike a growl.

blurry-end-evil:

"Forget  ? Forgive  ? " He offers, rather neutral, but... A little bitter, too.

ad1ostoreador:

"...never cared, at all, in the first place, unless it happened to personally, uhh, inconvenience them, like maybe some blood got splashed on their shoe, which they then had to try and clean off, because it wasn't a pretty color." It's half-muffled into his hand, or his knee, or just a low, tense mumble in the first place.

blurry-end-evil:

"People are aththole. What elthe is new ? Either they're shithead and don't care about what she did, either they're too nithe and forgive her. Or too thtupid and she manipulate them." He huff himself. Loxi tries to act as if things don't really touch him usually, but... He lost a lot, too.

"Mothtly, other don't get it. Why would they care ? Eh."

ad1ostoreador: "...even the ones who try and talk like they care... don't. Not really. It's always more important to them to chase her quads, or pretend like she's some sort of friend or something.... just shove everything under the textile square, right? If nobody talks about it, it's almost like it didn't happen, and it's all my fault if anything is maybe, not pleasant, a little, because I should have just gotten over it, like everyone else did, ha ha! It's not like she took anything important, just my best friend, and my future, and my legs, and my whole life, that I had..."  He's... possibly a lot closer to tears than he'd like to be. Ugh.

blurry-end-evil:

He won't point it out, even look at the sea rather than him to not make him feel too self-conscious. He's not good at comfort, but that doesn't mean he'll be an asshole here. "I know. I was here, remember ? She maid me kill AA. Tho, I disagree with whatever thome shithead who wantth to feel better than they are, forgive her or find her excuses. She turned fun games into dethtroyed lifes. I don't thee why the fuck you should be over it, or me, or anyone wanting to be mad at her. She could die under my eyes and I wouldn't even move a thingle finger."

He breathes noisily, annoyed now. Frustrated, too. Sometimes he wish he could have made her pay, for real. "She made your already hard life an impoththible one. If cullers had found you, you'd be dead. As if being a lowblood wasn't giving uth enough to handle, already. But, nooo, mithth blueblood don't thee why we're all tho mean with her, really, we're all awful." Loxi rolls his eyes, hissing a bit.

ad1ostoreador:

It gives him time to get his breathing back under control.  To fight down the ghost of remembered pain in his back that is trying to make his legs go numb and nerveless, and to quash the little surge of panic that is the automatic response to that (lack of) sensation.  He digs his claws into his knees a little, then shifts, clumsily.  "...My legs are okay now, but... all of it still happened."  A shaky exhale.  "I don't have to forgive her, or forget it."

blurry-end-evil:

"Of courthe not.  Magical repairing or whatever it is, it doesn't suddenly make everything fine again. And it'th not like she is the one who gave you your legs back. Right? Tho she didn't do anything to detherve forgivenethth. If she even could detherve it to begin with, which I doubt."

He's sort of enjoying having someone to trash her with.

ad1ostoreador:

"She's dead, and I'm not sorry at all," Tavros mutters.  "I'm never going to be sorry about that. Or decide that I am, um, okay with listening to some other version of her brag about all the terrible things she did."

blurry-end-evil:

"Is she ?" He lifts his arms straight above him, and let himself land on his back, on the sand. "Nithe. Finally thome good fucking news.'

Loxi snickers. "At leatht it meanth there's one lethth in the fuckery of the multiverthe. But, yeah, why you have to do that ?" He lift himself on his elbows. "You don't have to juthtify yourthelf, you know ? She did awful things. Kick her, kill her, ignore her. All good choice." He grins, now. "Pretty thure she'd prefer you kill her than you ignore her, the bitch."

ad1ostoreador:

He hackles up a little, hair prickling up in a crest, and flattens his ears, but at least he actually looks at Loxi this time.  "I have... a negative amount of care, actually, about what she wants, or wanted, or would have preferred.  All I care about is that she's gone, and at least one version of her... can't hurt anyone else, ever again.."

blurry-end-evil:

He stares back. "It'th what I thaid. And I altho thaid ignoring her is probably the betht. I guethth I'm jutht more revengeful than you." It's not judgemental, just a fact.

"...We can't make people thee the real her, though. Thadly."

ad1ostoreador:

"...I know. Nobody ever... wants to see it, until it's too late, and she's... broken something they actually care about, in a way that can't be fixed."  Tavros rakes a hand through his hair, trying to smooth it back down.  "....it's just... really tiring." He isn't even sure if he means the effort of trying to blacklist and block and filter her out, for his own sake, or the struggle of trying to maintain any trust at all toward people who let her in.

blurry-end-evil:

He nods tiredly. "She's just like... A life viruth. Or a happynethth viruth. It'th in her code, she won't change. It'th bullshit."

Loxi goes back to sitting position, crosslegged and elbow on his knee so he can rest his jaw in his hand. "You warn people, but they don't lithten. What elthe can you do ?" It's a rhetorical question.

ad1ostoreador:

"...I don't even try to warn anyone anymore," he murmurs, voice quiet and drained.  "It doesn't do any good, it never did... and no one cares.  Maybe whatever... weird timeline versions everyone else is from just... magically happened to fix whatever was broken in her, so that she could try not being a terrible person, for once.  But... I don't have to trust that, or believe it, and I don't have to try to help her anymore, when most all those, uh.... versions of her act and sound and do everything just like she always did."

He sighs, deeply, rubbing both hands over his face (and really making a further disaster of his facepaint). "...it doesn't make me a bad person, for just... not being willing to put myself in that position, with her, ever again..."

blurry-end-evil:

He listens quite patiently, ears twitching. "Thure. You're trying to convinthe me, or you ? Because." Loxi raises one finger. "To me you're, for onthe, right. Tho I don't need to be convinthed. Thecond-" He raises a second finger. "I'm no exactly good at comforting people tho I hope you don't expect that from me.

ad1ostoreador:

Tavros snorts again, muted, but almost smirks a little at him, ears still low.  He doesn't know who he's trying to convince, honestly, but it does feel good to get the words out without anyone turning it into something other than what it is.  "...Okay, I get it, you have a thing for 'two'... you don't have to try to convince me, I know..." blurry-end-evil:

Smirking back, he stick his tongue out at him. "I jutht, honethtly had only two pointth to make. Like often."

ad1ostoreador:

Tavros scratches his jaw with one finger. Maybe a rude finger.  Oh look, there's the other one, to match.  "...Maybe I just don't, uh... feel like going back inside, yet."

blurry-end-evil:

Nice, two of them. He snickers. "You better not. Your fathe lookth like a grub rolled in paint then rolled on your fathe."

ad1ostoreador:

"I'll clean it up and redo it... might keep wearing it, um, more often..."  He shifts a little, wings making a subtle crickety rasp as the edge of one drags against the edge of the other.

blurry-end-evil:

"Thure ? I'm gueththing it'th a thing between you and Gamzee. I am not really contherned by thieth piethe of info." He's just a little perplexed.

ad1ostoreador:

"Yes... and also no?  It's... I don't know.  I guess... I want to, uh. Show some respect, toward the one who made this whole place."  He shrugs, sheepishly.

blurry-end-evil:

He frowns, thinks. "Thith plathe is linked to the religouth figures of the clown church ?" Not that he knows them, he just. Suppose.

ad1ostoreador:

He's a bit surprised that Loxi has heard of them at all, to be honest.  "Um... yeah, kind of. Maybe not in... exactly the way they thought, but.  One's a destroyer... but the other one is a maker. This place exists because of the Muse..."

blurry-end-evil:

Between playing and sniffing online, he heard a lot. That and he still heard people talk around him, on the ship. "How do you know that ?"

ad1ostoreador:

"Because we met her..."

blurry-end-evil:

He's genuinely surprised. "Hm. Okay. What she lookth like ?" Loxi could call him a liar or naive, but. Doesn't sounds fitting, here.

ad1ostoreador:

"Tall... and, uh, green.  Kind of... bony-scaly? She was... very different from anything that I might have expected."

blurry-end-evil:

"A thcalebeatht thkeleton ? Original." He's amused, but not like he doesn't believe him. Loxi he's pretty sure Tavros isn' tthe type ot invent this for fun. Further not since it's touching a topic important for his matesprit.

ad1ostoreador:

"Just... very different. Her, uh... 'brother' was tearing everything apart, where we came from.  From the stuff she said, he... was the kind of same cheater Vriska always was.  If he wasn't winning, he'd just... twist all the rules around, and make it so he had to, no matter what."  He grimaces a little, giving his head a shake. "...I told her, the only way to, uh, win a game, with that kind of person, is to stop playing their game at all, and walk away."

blurry-end-evil:

He raise an eyebrow, interested by the story. 'Did she lithten ?"

ad1ostoreador:

"...I kind of... think that listening was maybe a thing that she did."

blurry-end-evil:

He burst in a snicker at that. "Shit, could oyu make thith thententhe even longer ? Normal people jutht thay 'yeth'. Or 'I think'." Loxi doesn't sound very mean, but he's definitely amused a mocking a little.

"And, tho. She created thith planet ? For you ?"

ad1ostoreador:

Tavros blinks at him, mock-innocently.  "Maybe, I don't like to make, uhh, firm statements, about what reasons for doing something another person may have had, unless they have personally explained them? But... she made this place, and... I like to think it's for everyone who never got a chance, to be free from all of that time-loop stuff."

blurry-end-evil:

A grin. "You mean, every thtray troll you can manage to thave and bring here ?" This time it's a tease.

ad1ostoreador:

He huffs, quietly.  "...I wasn't going to just sit around while an imperial ship caught up."

blurry-end-evil:

"Oooh, thir Nitram thank you for thaving my poor thcrawny athth~" Then he snickers. "Good thing you did, though. For me, at leatht. For you, I'm not thure, cause now you have to deal with me." He's grinning, highly amused.

ad1ostoreador:

"You're not, uh, nearly as bad as you think you are," Tavros points out, amused.  "...Scrawny, yeah, but..."

blurry-end-evil:

He tries to take an offended face, but he can't fully erase his grin. "Excuse me ? I'm tho bad. A true movie villain. Awfulnethth in perthon. The evil thtraw, it'th me."

ad1ostoreador:

He rolls his eyes, then shoves his shoulder a little, but gently.  "Okay, we've both met Vriska, I don't think anyone else is really going to, uhh... manage 'movie villain' levels of awful, compared to that."  Being able to crack a joke about it is at least an improvement.

blurry-end-evil:

As a legitimate scrawny gremlin, he nearly stumble to the side at the shove. Is he exaggerating for dramatic effect ? No one will know. "Shit, you're right. I'll be thith annoying thecond role that always annoy everyone then. I let you the 'naive but big hearted' hero role. I know you want it."

ad1ostoreador:

"Okay, if that's what you, uh, insist..."  He huffs, lightly, then just sighs, wings dragging faintly over each other again.

blurry-end-evil:

"What. You thee me as the hero of anything, really ?" He mocks, though he's probably rather mocking himself. Then, just because he can, Loxi use his psionics to start building a very small sand castle on Tavros's knee. Or shoulder, if the knee is obstrued.

ad1ostoreador:

"Strictly, uh, the sidekick.  That's the, um, secondary role, right?" A little smirk.  He doesn't move to dislodge the sand being piled up on his knee, though.

blurry-end-evil:

He huff, displeasure visible. "The thidekick is often jutht thtupid and clumthy to make the hero lookth better." He's making a neat little sandcastle. Tryings to get whatever not-sand he find to land in Tavros's hair. Enjoy cleaning that, Gamzee.

"I could be the one with brain thells and computer who's thaving the night by actually thinking and making plans tho the hero don't die, though."

ad1ostoreador:

"If you are watching movies where the, uhh, sidekick is stupid and clumsy, then probably I don't know what kind of movies you're watching, but you should maybe find better movies, that don't suck?"  He snorts, then gives his head a shake to shake out debris all over Loxi, too.

blurry-end-evil:

Except avoiding getting them in his eyes, he doesn't bother avoiding or removing the debris. The sandcastle is not so miraculously still there, thanks to psionics. "I had only alternian movies. Where the thidekick is always a thtupid and clumthy lowblood, you know. And now I altho watched Moana, where her thidekick are a terribly thtupid featherbeatht and a thupposedly cute oinkbeatht. "

ad1ostoreador:

"We need to, uh, show you a bunch more human movies.  They're really alien, in how they look at things, sometimes, but... some of them are actually pretty good."  He brushes at his hair then, with one hand, still not minding the sand on his knee.  "Anyway, I don't think that I have ever thought of you as, uhh, terribly stupid, or a featherbeast?"

blurry-end-evil:

"Thank you. " He says, wry and amused. "I know I'm rather a thmartathth, in every way. But thavynethth can't always thave you, or your friends."

Loxi shrugs, looking not bothered. Only looking, though. "I prefer to be thome shitty thidekick not allowed to pilot the ship in fear they'd make it crash, than to be the motor of thaid ship." It's said with a snicker.

ad1ostoreador:

Tavros laughs a little, shaking his head. "Well... being a, uh, power source isn't something which you will need to worry about, here, ever..." His smile fades, then. "...Sometimes, nothing can save anybody. But... sometimes we can."

blurry-end-evil:

He stares at Tavros, then turn towards the sea. Without his focus on, the sandcastle crumble on the troll's knee. "...Maybe thome can thave people, and others jutht attract death."

As if nothing happened, Loxi turn to grin mischieviously at the bronze. "You know, like thome kind of... unlucky charm. Garanted to not bring you luck."

ad1ostoreador:

His expression turns more serious, then. Severe, even. "...I don't believe that luck is, uhh... really a thing."

blurry-end-evil:

He lean back on one hand, tilting his head as he smile more than grin, for once. "Each one their beliefs, hm ?"

ad1ostoreador:

"Yeah, except when you're, uhh, just really wrong." A little bit of a shoulder-bump, fleeting contact. "Also, you're here now, so..." He dusts crumbled sand off his knee.

blurry-end-evil:

He's a little more ready this time, and just chuckle under his breath at the bump. Loxi is not... Really used to contact. Even before the helsman thing. "Jutht watch me, I'm gonna attract thome disathter on your pretty planet by the only forthe of exithting and being here."

He's... Only half serious.

ad1ostoreador:

Yeah, that makes two of them, between distance and social isolation. Even after a sweep or so with Gamzee, and time on the meteor before that, Tavros is... extremely skittish and careful about touching literally anyone else. "Or, you will be fine, and so will the rest of us, and also the planet..."

blurry-end-evil:

"I am very grateful for you to thay that." His face is serious, until it split in a grin. "Because either it'th true and then good, or you're wrong and the night it'll all go to shit I'll be able to thay 'I told you. I was right.'. A win-win."

ad1ostoreador:

"In that case, maybe I should point out that I'm right, in the meantime, every night." He sticks his tongue out a little.

blurry-end-evil:

Shit. He pouts, having not thought of that option. "Make it a thweep, and I'd call it fair."

ad1ostoreador:

"If we get to one whole sweep, and there, uh, hasn't been a disaster here, just because of you being here, specifically, then you have to publicly admit that you were wrong."

blurry-end-evil:

He winces, and actually weighs it... The tip of his tongue poking out as he calculate the odds. "...Okay. Deal. I guethth I don't need to find a forfeit for you, you'll have enough at handling the disathter and my gloating."

ad1ostoreador:

"Also, your computer having some kind of, uh, error, does not count as a disaster."  Snort.  "And you dropping a bowl of food on the floor, also, does not count as a disaster.  And neither do things which have nothing to do with you, and that you could not possibly have caused."

blurry-end-evil:

He glares, but quick smile again... And lift a finger. "Firtht, my computer don't have error. Thecond -" And here lift the second finger. "Of courthe, we talk about real disathter here, not KK'th tantrum level.

ad1ostoreador:

"Just, uhh, preemptively ruling out some things, so you don't try to get away with claiming something silly as a 'disaster', to avoid admitting I was right..."

blurry-end-evil:

"You're thuggethting I'm a cheater ? I'm not. At leatht, not when I play againtht thomeone."

ad1ostoreador:

"That is, um, good, because I wouldn't want to play games with someone who cheats... but I am looking forward to winning, pretty thoroughly."  He flashes a grin at him, almost cockily.

blurry-end-evil:

He can't help but grin back, excited at the prospect of challenge and safe competition. "You wish. I'll beat you at any game, TV." Maybe not, but Loxi believe it.

ad1ostoreador:

"It's going to be funny to, uh, watch you try, anyway," he retorts.  It's definitely a safer way to compete.  There's nothing enticing about real harm as physical stakes, to him. Not anymore, if there ever was.

blurry-end-evil:

They're two, then. As much as he likes competition, Loxi would probably panic at anything turning into a fight, or close to. Some child-like fight would be okay, but anythign more... Would not. "You dream as big as your horns, but I wouldn't bet a coin on your thkills."

ad1ostoreador:

"If you keep, uhh, pointing out my horns, I'm going to think you have a complex..." Tavros grins, teasing.  "And also, out of the two of us, who on this beach right now, has been a ranking regional champion, at a game? Because I am pretty sure it's not you..."

blurry-end-evil:

A snort-huff. "You're kidding me ? You're the one talking about them as if you perthonnaly built them." He blinks at the next information. "If you're bragging about the fact you're a regional champion of thith planet, I wish to point out there's lethth than ten people living here..."

Loxi shrugs. "I've had my thuccethth on Alternia though. Got a pretty dethent claththment." He had the bad habit to quickly look at a game's code though, and it caused a bunch of ban. That and he liked to bother people even more than wining.

ad1ostoreador:

"Grew them myself," he adds, and waggles his brows a little.

"I'm not talking about this, uh, planet... I mean back on Alternia."  His grin turns a little softer.  A little sad.  "With Aradia... we were pretty good players.  Before, um... everything happened."

blurry-end-evil:

"Well, thame for my bulges and you don't hear me talk about them all the time." He mocks a bit, but his grin drops at the mention of Aradia.

"Oh, that. Yeah. She talked about it a lot, but I didn't know it was ranked." His face is neutral, which is his form of 'depressed', probably. Loxi likes to believe it's behind him. To pretend it's not keeping him up at noon. "Not the same as a video game, though." He tries to get the conversation on a less mourning topic, maybe.

ad1ostoreador:

Aradia's always been a... sensitive topic, for Tavros.  Especially where any version of Sollux is involved.  Some nights, he wants to just remember her, but blame is a complicated thing for them both.  He lets the topic drop, aware that now probably isn't the best time, and settles for flicking a bit of sand at Loxi.

"Yeah, well, some of us aren't, uhh, allergic to going outside..."

blurry-end-evil:

"Computers are better inthide, and Alternia's outthide wasn't exactly a nithe walk in... WHatever is peaceful and thafe." He gesture vaguely to illustrate his thought.

ad1ostoreador:

"You also lived in a hivecluster."  He shudders a little, exaggerated.  "Too many people, all crowded together..."

blurry-end-evil:

"I didn't thee them much. And what can I thay. Inthide is just my natural habitat." He has... A ton of reason, for that. But none that he's willing to talk about. "My neighbourth had the good tathte to ignore me, and I did the thame. It was great. I didn't have to thit on the thand, getting thome probably everywhere up to my nook, to lithten thome rude troll inthult my thkillth at video gameth."

It was hard to miss the way Loxi was grinning at him though, Loxi making it obvious he was just teasing, and not truly minded. He would have left, if he did.

ad1ostoreador:

Tavros raises a brow, glancing down, then back up again, but says nothing further on the topic of Loxi's anatomy with regards to sand.  "So, you're just doing all that, for the pleasure of my, um, company?"  Smirk.

blurry-end-evil:

"Who knowth. I've always known to have shitty tathteth, after all." He smirks right back, raising an eyebrow.

[hopelesshawks]

Physical Fatality Part 13- Icarus

18+ Hawks x fem, pro hero!reader

Summary: You’re a rising star in All Might’s agency. Hawks is the darling of Endeavor’s. By virtue of your job descriptions, the two of you are supposed to hate each other, or at the very least be cautiously neutral. For a long time that’s exactly what the two of you did. You stayed out of each other’s way and formed little opinion of the other. One fateful night at an HPSC gala changes all that. Based on the album Hopeless Fountain Kingdom by Halsey.

If you don’t want to see Physical Fatality content blacklist #hopelesspf

This story will have multiple NSFW parts so it is 18+ ONLY minors dni

Warning for very slight suicidal themes this fic has a happy ending I swear

Masterlist

Agony.

Losing you is agony.

Endeavor is lecturing him for pulling the stunt with Bakugo earlier that day but he can’t hear or really process any of it when all he can think about is the fact you’ve blocked his number and seem to want nothing to do with him. He vaguely registers words of “I told you so” and “I warned you” and even a word or two about a demotion but none of it matters. Hawks doesn’t know how to do anything but be a hero. It’s been the driving force behind a lot of the choices he’s made in your relationship and he knows it’s the same for you, but that doesn’t make any of this easier.

“You’re going to have to work really hard to earn my trust back Hawks and the trust of your coworkers,” Endeavor warns. “Understood,” Hawks replies, his voice almost detached. It seems to disconcert Endeavor, the other man being far more accustomed to the snarky Hawks persona than the serious man in front of him now. “Hawks, uhm, do you,” Endeavor stutters suddenly unsure. He coughs to cover his discomfort and clears his throat before resuming. “Do you need to talk about what happened between you and Artemis?” he finally manages to ask. He looks so deeply uncomfortable potentially talking about the subject and his discomfort only grows when Hawks continues to give him nothing back. “That won’t be necessary,” Hawks replies before turning and walking out of the office. If Hawks doesn’t know how to live without hero work, Keigo doesn’t know how to live without you. So his only option is to abandon Keigo until the pain stops.

He can’t have slept more than a handful of hours that night but he still wakes up early the next morning to run an extra patrol before his normally scheduled one. He files paperwork, even revisits old cases, all in a bid to keep you off his mind. Of course it’s not enough to stop his coworkers from whispering. Typically he ignores the gossip of the lower ranking heroes but it’s hard when he knows they’re speculating about you and him. It certainly doesn’t help that your break up was so public and now it feels like nearly all of Japan has watched the video of it happening. Hawks used to be the darling of Endeavor’s agency, beloved by all of his coworkers. Now he’s practically a pariah.

His new outcast status is only made more obvious at the cocktail party later that day. He’d wanted to skip it entirely, the fact you were supposed to be his plus one to the event made it all the more unappealing, but he’s already skating on thin ice and had no legitimate excuse to justify his absence. So instead he watches the other heroes talk and drink and laugh about things while he hides in the corner, too exhausted and heartbroken to put up the persona necessary to maintain conversation. No one seems to ask about him anyway or even care what he thinks despite the fact it’s his personal life that’s become the hottest topic in all of Japan. He wonders if this is how Icarus felt as he plummeted to the earth. Hawks had flown too close to your light and warmth and now he’s fallen from grace. He wonders if it’s true that Icarus laughed as he fell. If so he can empathize. As painful as this fall is, he would live it over and over if it meant he could catch even a glimpse of you again.

When Shoto comes to join him it’s literally the first genuine interaction he’s had all day. “You look like shit,” Shoto comments by way of greeting. “Thanks. Feel like it too,” Hawks replies. He doesn’t have to pretend with Shoto and for that he’s grateful. “Are you ok?” Shoto asks. “Even though I’ve always hated these things I was always so good at them,” Hawks starts in response. “I’d talk, drink, laugh just like everyone’s doing, be the center of attention, play the part of the charming number two hero. And look at me now. I’m so fucking anxious about what they’ll say about me, about her, about us and what happened that I can’t have a proper fucking conversation. I used to be on fire and now I’m standing in the ashes of who I used to be and I’m just fading away. Without her I’m fading away. I’m just as pathetic as she said,” Keigo confesses and it’s a weight off but it also makes the hollow space behind his ribs where you used to live feel all the more prominent. “This right here is kind of pathetic,” Shoto starts, earning him a shocked almost laugh from the other man, “but you are not pathetic Hawks. I think (y/n) knows that, she’s just hurting. Rightfully so. The bullshit with the others in the agency will get better too.” “I don’t know about that one.” “You’re not the only one who’s done dumb or bad shit. Not by a long shot.” “Really?” “You know Iida?” Shoto asks, pointing to the man in question as he obliviously continues his conversation with one of the others present. “Yea. Your year at UA, stickler for the rules. What about him?” Hawks asks. “He chose his internship our first year with the sole intention of trying to hunt down and kill Stain to avenge his brother.” “Really? That guy?” “Yep. My dad isn’t so innocent either: quirk marriage, child abuse, oh the stories I could tell you.” “Jesus Christ.” “Exactly. Everyone has their own shit Hawks. This will pass and hopefully you and (y/n) can find your ways back to each other when it does.”

Shortly after Todoroki finishes speaking his phone rings and he frowns down in confusion when he notices it’s Bakugo calling him. “I didn’t think we had task force business today,” Shoto says as he answers the phone. “We don’t. Is Hawks there with you?” Bakugo asks, his tone betraying his worry. “Yea he is.” “Shit.” “What’s going on Bakugo?” “It’s about (y/n),” Bakugo admits and Shoto’s eyes widen. He casts a look at Hawks before finally deciding to drag the other man with him to an empty office on the floor they’re currently on. He locks the door behind them and then pops his phone on speaker. “Ok you’re on speaker with me and Hawks what’s going on with (y/n)?” Shoto asks, his voice remaining calm. “All Might fired her last night so she was supposed to come in this morning and collect her stuff except instead she pretty much just threw everything away. I came back to patrol and found out she’d left Midoriya and I little gifts on our desk which was weird, so I hit up her roommates and apparently she never went home after she swung by here. I thought she and Hawks may have run off together but if he’s with you...” Bakugo explains. “Maybe she’s just clearing her head or something,” Shoto suggests. “No way. The whole of Japan is gossiping about her right now, the last thing she’d want is to be out in public,” Bakugo quickly refutes. “Was there anything else off about your desks? Drawers opened?” Hawks asks. “Maybe, I wasn’t paying that much attention. Why?” Bakugo asks. “Your task force notes still there?” Hawks asks in lieu of an answer. Hawks and Shoto wait with baited breath as they hear the sound of Bakugo moving around and then opening a desk drawer. “Nope, they’re gone,” Bakugo finally reports back. “Thought so. (Y/n) wouldn’t just roll over and kiss her career goodbye, she’s probably trying to take out the terrorist cell herself and use it as leverage to get her job back,” Hawks deduces. “Alone? That’s a suicide mission,” Shoto says. “Hence the gifts on the desks,” Hawks replies grimly. “Most of our notes are over there with you guys though,” Bakugo points out. As if on cue an alarm starts blaring overhead warning of an intruder. “That’s gotta be her,” Hawks says. “I’m on my way, hold her there so we can talk some sense into that idiot,” Bakugo tells them before promptly hanging up the phone.

Hawks has to give credit where credit is due. As foolhardy as your plan is, it’s incredibly well executed. As a former member of the guest list, you would’ve known everyone would be occupied with the cocktail party on one of the lower floors, far away from where the files you need are. The elevators will take forever with so many people trying to all get upstairs which only leaves the stairs, which are marginally better but still relatively slow. You must have spent most of the night planning this out. That thought fills Hawks with a certain amount of dread. You’re probably emotional and sleep deprived on your way to take on an entire villain group yourself all in a desperate bid to save your career. It almost sounds ludicrous. Yet, as Hawks races to the top floor in hopes of catching you, all he can think of is something you’d once told him during happier times, late at night as you two were wrapped up in each other:

“Honestly Kei? I’d rather die a hero than live long enough to prove those stupid reporters right about me.”

Author’s Note: Does this still count as a double update if I’m posting the second one after midnight 💀 anyway I can’t believe how quickly I was able to get this chapter out. The image of Hawks standing in the corner of a massive company party feeling like a shell of himself is actually a large part of what sold me on writing this fic for him. The song this chapter correlates to just felt so right for his character that I knew it couldn’t be anyone else. I thought about waiting to post this until later tomorrow today? but I’m ✨impatient✨ so instead y’all get it now

Taglist [open]: @akkaso @cathy8taffy @eeppff @iikillerkitteh @pixelwisp @pokesosa @lildockel @bread0nhead @lavender-moon13

[wolfpawn]

I Hate You, I Love You, Chapter 34

Chapter Summary -   Taylor's new song causes Danielle to wish she was a more physically aggressive person, but she keeps herself calm.

When Luke turns up on set, slightly miffed, his annoyance is quickly diverted from Danielle and Tom's relationship to Taylor, leading to him getting to know Danielle even better, what does he think of Tom's new flame?

Previous Chapter

Rating - Mature (some chapters contain smut)

Triggers - references to Tom Hiddleston’s work with the #MeToo Movement. That chapter will be tagged accordingly.

authors Note - I have been working on this for the last 3 years, it is currently 180+ chapters long.  This will be updated daily, so long as I can get time to do so, obviously.

tags: @sweetkingdomstarlight-blog  @jessibelle-nerdy-mum@nonsensicalobsessions @damalseer @hiddlesbitch1 @winterisakiller @fairlightswiftly @salempoe

If you wish to be tagged, please let me know.

It took every fibre of restraint in Danielle’s being to not want to go over and slap that smarmy tart across the face as she gave the Safety Officer a sickeningly sweet false smile on her entered the set for everything she had said of Danielle and of Tom. Danielle remained right next to the head of the studio, who of course, would not miss the opportunity to suck up to the famous pop star. It was her best defence, knowing from Taylor’s demeanour that she would relish in getting Danielle fired.

“Well then, Ms Hughes, this is the placements for everyone, is there any issue?” the producer and choreographers asked.

Scanning the plans, her eyes widened. “You can’t do this.”

“And why not?” Taylor demanded, “Just because it hasn’t been done before doesn’t mean it can’t. That is the difference between an artist and some set worker, you lack the vision to do something like this.”

“Actually, I am sorry to inform you, Ms Swift, this is not a revolutionary idea, it has, in fact, been done ad nauseum. The issue here is not the inability to do it, but the safety factors involved. That.” she pointed to a nearby pillar, “Is purely for decoration, it not for function. It is only plasterboard and other cheap, breakable materials, and is not attached to the ceiling, or indeed the floor. Your dancers are very much at risk if you have them dance too close to it, it could very easily fall over, and though it is not functional, it is close to half a tonne in weight, not something I could ever possibly sign off on as being safe.” She explained logically, loving the fact that every word she spoke drove Taylor more and more to the brink of a tantrum, knowing that she could not argue Danielle’s point without others thinking her as being nothing more than petulant. “I can suggest other safer areas if you’d like.” She offered the producer.

The rest of the shoot went as well as it could in Danielle’s opinion, considering the main person dictating the shoot was the narcissistic ex-girlfriend of her boyfriend who seemed hell-bent on getting a reaction from Danielle. The song, as Danielle had gathered, was not only slating Tom as a user, a manipulator and a cheat, but also ensured to hint that Danielle, or the ‘The Heeler’ the title of the song referenced to, was the reason for the protagonist’s pain and hurt. She just bit her lips together and made comments to the producer where necessary to ensure the safety of everyone on set; though were Taylor to be hit across the head by a low beam, she would not have been entirely heartbroken.

“Thank you for all your hard work, Taylor was right to specifically ask for you.” The producer smiled politely.

Danielle mulled over those words for a moment when something came to her. “I have never worked with Ms Swift before, how did she even hear of me?” she asked, playing innocent.

“Well, I assume it has something to do with your work on other music video’s.” the producer dismissed, thinking nothing of it.

“I have never done a music video.” Danielle countered.

The producer frowned, “Did you work stateside?”

“I have never been to the States. This is my fourth ever gig. Sherlock, a soap opera, Game of Thrones, Beauty and the Beast.” She listed off.

“Odd, she knows no one really on those; your reputation obviously precedes you, because she was adamant about having you here.” He shrugged and walked off, leaving Danielle very concerned as to how Swift knew her career change.

“She’s over there, black jacket saying S.O. on it.” She heard a guy instruct.

Terrified as to who it was, she turned, shocked to see Luke Windsor coming towards her, grimacing internally at the annoyed look on his face “Mr Windsor.”

“Ms Hughes.” He replied curtly.

“You do not look best pleased.” She commented.

“Perhaps that is because I am not.”

“Is it anything to do with my relationship with one of your clients?” she gambled.

“That is exactly what it is.”

“Have we been spotted?” She knew it was only a matter of time before they were, but she had hoped to have spoken with Sophie before being thrown to the wolves or crazy fangirls as the case may be.

“No, there is no hint of anything.”

She frowned. “Then I don’t understand.”

“Would you like to know how I found out my biggest actor is seeing a set safety officer?”

“Tom sending a drunken text?” she guessed.

“No, that would actually have been better.” He growled. “I found out when I was speaking with Emma, Watson that is, and she made mention that she has seen Tom quite frequently of late, and how she was delighted he found a, and I quote ‘great, down to earth and decent’ girlfriend.” He explained.

“I know you’re mad Tom didn’t tell you that your conversation with me fixed our little miscommunication issue, but I am just going to bask in the knowledge that the Emma Watson called me those things.”

“You were just as capable of telling me.”

“I am not your client, though. I can’t imagine your secretary putting through my calls.”

Luke made a face that told her he could not argue that. “Well, a warning from either of you would have been nice, I need to make sure that when this does become public, that I actually know what is going on, as it stood, I thought there was nothing between you.”

“Shh!” Danielle looked around to see if anyone was close by. Luke looked around confused. “I…Do not bring that up here, please.”

“Why not?”

“Well, one; I don’t want anyone thinking I got where I am by sleeping with an actor, and two; of all the days for that to be made public here, today is not the day.”

“Why not?”

“You have no idea who’s here, do you?” he shook his head. “Your favourite pop princess.”

Luke’s face fell, his pallor changing. “What?”

“People were wondering why she was in London; she is here to shoot her new video, in this studio, today, and guess who the song is about?”

“I am going to kill him. I warned him.”

“I know, but there is nothing we can do about it.” She soothed.

“How bad is it?”

“He manipulated and used her, and I made him cheat on her with me.” She explained.

“Fuck,” he shook his head.

“You need to go,” Danielle stated. Luke looked at her almost indignantly. “If she sees you here, she will make a big deal of this, you are Tom’s publicist so she will know we’re together. She already knows I’m working here. That’s already too much.”

“Well, if you knew she was going to be here, why did you take this job, are you actively looking for trouble?” he growled.

“I was told, under no uncertain terms, that should I leave set today, after my actual job, I would be blacklisted. She demanded me specifically.” She informed him. “How she even knew I was working here, or indeed that I changed careers, I don’t know.”

Luke’s brows furrowed. “She wouldn’t have known?”

“They were broken up when I moved into it, and Tom didn’t find out until a month ago. There’s no way she should know.”

“Unless she has been keeping tabs on you.” Danielle cocked her head slightly, “Why come to London to shoot a video, the company she is using,” he looked at the emblem on the side of a soundboard case. “That’s an American company, she flew it all here.”

“She wouldn’t have done it specifically for me.” Danielle dismissed.

“Wouldn’t she?” Luke challenged. “I went snooping on PR Barbie when she and Tom were linked. I cannot believe these words are coming out of my mouth, but I agree with Kim Kardashian, she is a snake.”

“Hey, we don’t even know that woman, don’t judge her.”

“She got famous for nothing.”

“Actually, she got famous for something; something I don’t think many people would be willing to do, but to say she maintained fame shows she is not an absolute airhead, she’s worth more than you and I are.”

“You don’t strike me as a trash television fan.” Luke eyed her up and down.

“Never saw her show, not overly bothered by her existence, I just don’t know her, and as a fellow woman, I commend her for doing well with her life.” She shrugged.

Luke was about to say something else to her, but his eyes flickered over her shoulder and his jaw clenched. He made a slight movement of his eyes to Danielle to inform her who was coming towards them.

Taking a deep breath, Danielle composed herself and turned around. “Is there anything more you need Ms Swift?” she asked, though keeping the words polite was difficult.

“So you were only after him in the end, that’s a surprise.” She snarked, looking between the pair. “I was right all along.”

“I do not know what you are talking about.” Danielle feigned ignorance. “Mr Windsor and I are merely discussing his client and a future lunch between themselves and myself.”

“He seems to have only one client, and he follows him everywhere like a faithful puppy.”

Luke’s brows rose at Taylor’s comments. Danielle only laughed. “It wouldn’t be a successful PR firm if he had only one client. He has others, one of whom I happen to be a huge fan of, and whom I am working with at present, so with her being on this set, but having to leave early today to facilitate you, and him stuck in a meeting dealing with the premieres for this movie, he is merely relaying her message to me while here.”

Luke stared at Danielle, impressed with how she had concocted a story from thin air and had stated it with such conviction, he had to remind himself for a moment with was fabricated.

Taylor glared at her, “So you expect me to believe you aren’t sniffing around my scraps?”

“I couldn’t give a rat’s ass what you believe or not, it is no concern of mine. My only concern here was that nothing happens anyone on set when shooting, I have done my job, so I am getting ready to go home for the evening, perhaps get some room service, and see what’s on TV.”

“God, you’re boring.”

“Perhaps to you, but I’m happy, and that’s all that I am concerned with.” Danielle smiled, seeing the head of the studio coming, she decided to finish the conversation, even if Taylor didn’t want to. “Have a safe flight to your next destination Ms Swift, and thank you so much for asking for me today.”

Taylor’s nostrils flared at her manner. “What?”

“Well, I thought you would like to know that the money you’ve paid me for this shoot means I can take a month’s break after these few reshoots and spend it with those I love and get a new car, so thank you.” She beamed as the singer stared at her blankly. “You’ve paid for my Christmas and car.” She almost burst out laughing, loving how Taylor seemed to only then realise it was entirely true. “Thank you and safe journeys.” With that, she gave a wave goodbye to her superiors and walked off.

“You lie with too much ease,” Luke commented, having followed her out of earshot.

“I am dating an actor, I work with actors, all I see day and night are lies, people pretending to be people they’re not, people pretending to believe everything they say, you pick it up easy enough.” She commented, going for the exit.

When they came to Luke’s car, he stopped, looking at her for a moment. “I didn’t think I would be saying this, but you may actually be able to survive the gauntlet that being with Tom requires.”

“I hope so, but I’m not always sure. I am so scared of when we are found out.”

“Don’t you want to be with him?” Luke asked, confused.

“Yes, God yes. But it’s not really him and me in this relationship, though, is it? It’s us and every fangirl, gossip rag, and ex-pop girlfriend’s, that’s the worry.”

“If he wasn’t famous, would this be a concern to you? Would you be so sceptical?”

“If Tom worked as, I dunno, what would Tom be if he wasn’t an actor? I suppose something in literature, isn’t that what everyone thinks; then I would actually be happier, and probably not have spent five years of trying to convince myself I wasn’t completely in love with his dorky nutty ass.” She laughed.

“But he is an actor,” Luke commented.

“Yes, and a brilliant one.” Danielle concurred. “But it means we are not allowed be normal, are we? I mean, even you have an internet following, just because of him being him. I am just trying to get used to it Luke, I am doing everything I can to. I love him, I love everything from the fact he seems morbidly afraid of learning how to work a washing machine to the fact that his greatest brag in life is he can cook a breakfast, to even that weird attempt he does at dancing.”

“That fucking dancing.” Luke shook his head, causing Danielle to laugh. “What about the fact he is being seen as getting older now, getting…well, thinner haired.”

“If he heard you.” She scolded. “I guess he is going to get a few more ‘Dad’ roles in the near future, and yes, his hairline is receding a little, but if he turns out as bald as a coot, why would I care, he would still be the same dork that tripped over his own gangly limbs the first day I met him, the same guy that seemed to think it appropriate to make a sex noise because I made his tea right on the first go in my new kitchen, and the same guy who acted as though I gave him the moon when I got him a joke present of Baloo in the Disney store.”

“You really do love him, Tom the person, not the actor.”

“I met Thomas first, Tom came along after, and to be honest, being in the spotlight caused him to become colder, more clammed up in public, which startled me really, but when he is away from that, when he is behind closed doors, he is still the same happy sweet guy, thankfully. I was so scared she had destroyed that, it scared me so much; I wanted to save that part of him. When I fought with him during that relationship, I would have had it that he hate me for eternity than him risking becoming a cold person.” She explained. “Have a good evening Mr Windsor, and I’m truly sorry for any trouble today may cause for you.” She opened her car door and got in, leaving Luke slightly flabbergasted for a moment, before getting into his own car, mulling over her words, knowing that of any attempt Tom had at a relationship in the time they were working together, Danielle was there for the right reasons, and he found himself hoping she would be the one to stick.